Awards, attendances and next year’s schedule
The 2024/2025 is a wrap. Thursday saw the KHL’s Closing Ceremony in Moscow – and the league’s latest board meeting is already looking towards 2025/2026.
Leivo scoops up end-of-season awards
Salavat Yulaev forward Josh Leivo picked up four individual awards at Thursday’s KHL 2024/2025 Closing Ceremony. Already a lock for the prizes for leading the league in points and goals, the Canadian was also named regular-season MVP and earned a Golden Helmet as part of the team of the season. His four awards on the night echo the record he set during the regular season, when he became the first player to score three hat-tricks in a month.
Isayev, Nikitin pick up prizes
This year’s champion, Lokomotiv, was also well represented in the end-of-season awards. Daniil Isayev was voted goalie of the year for the second time in a row, while Igor Nikitin won his second coach of the year prize. In addition, Alexander Radulov collected his playoff MVP prize and secured a Golden Helmet. Maxim Shalunov won the new Fonbet Overtime prize after his golden goal won the cup for Lokomotiv. Interestingly, Isayev edged Dynamo’s Vladislav Podyapolsky by a single vote in the goalie of the year poll, and the Blue-and-White netminder was nominated for a Golden Helmet instead. Alexander Nikishin (SKA), Damir Sharipzyanov (Avangard), Josh Leivo (Salavat Yulaev) and Maxim Shabanov (Traktor) completed the team of the year.
Record attendances
The 2024/2025 KHL season saw new records for overall and average attendance at regular season and playoff games. In total, 6.5 million spectators came to the arenas for games, with an average crowd of 7,547 fans. On average, arenas were 81.7% full, just 0.1% behind the all-time KHL record set in 2014/2015. SKA, Dinamo Minsk and Avangard had the biggest crowds, while SKA, Torpedo and Traktor sold out every home game. KHL President Alexei Morozov was delighted that the competition is attracting more fans than ever as clubs move to bigger, more up-to-date arenas. “It’s evident [that we are building an audience],” he said. “We have attendance records in both the regular season and the playoffs. As we see more seats in our new arenas, it is encouraging that far from losing fans, more are coming to us.”
Mironov takes charge at Lada
Boris Mironov is the new head coach of Lada Togliatti. The 53-year-old was an assistant to Benoit Groulx as Traktor reached the 2025 Gagarin Cup final. He also took Spartak to the playoffs in 2021/2022 but was dismissed as the Muscovites’ head coach in the following season. Mironov takes over from Pavel Zubov, who concluded the 2024/2025 campaign as interim head coach following the departure of Oleg Bratash in November. Lada missed out on the playoffs after finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference.
Anti-doping and injuries
The KHL remains the only pro league in Russia that carries out its own anti-doping tests. In partnership with RUSADA there were more than 450 tests last season, and three violations were uncovered. There were 18% fewer player injuries reported last season after the league introduced clinical protocols for injury recovery at a club level.
Season schedule mapped out
The 2025/2026 KHL season will start in Yaroslavl on Sep. 5 when Lokomotiv takes on Traktor in the Opening Cup game. The regular season will run to March 20, 2026, with each team playing 68 games. There is no break planned for the Winter Olympics in February. The playoffs will start on March 23, and May 11 will see the start of the Gagarin Cup final. If needed, game seven of the final would be on May 23. The 2026 KHL All-Star Game is likely to be in Yekaterinburg. However, while there is agreement between the league, the local authorities and Avtomobilist, KHL President Alexei Morozov said the formal documentation is not yet signed off.
New Torpedo arena due next season
In Nizhny Novgorod, work continues on getting Torpedo’s new arena up to KHL standards. The club plans to begin the 2025/2026 season at its old home with a view to moving to the new rink before the New Year. As with other recently-opened venues in Omsk, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg, it’s likely that the first games will be test events involving the juniors.
