The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) decided to cancel all remaining regular season matches and announced playoff pairs. This was reported on the official website of the league.
“In order for the playoffs to be as comfortable as possible for participating teams and fans, given the current situation with the pandemic, the league will make decisions not to play the remaining games of the regular season and approve a new procedure for determining the results of the regular season in the current season,” the statement said. It is also noted that the next stage promises to be stubborn and unpredictable, as there is no clear favorite in the fight for the Gagarin Cup.
Under the new rules, 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. They were determined by the percentage of wins. This is due to the fact that the clubs played a different number of matches.
In the Western Conference, SKA will play against Dynamo Minsk, Jokerit against Spartak, CSKA against Lokomotiv, and Dynamo Moscow against Severstal. In the Eastern Conference, Metallurg will meet with Barys, Traktor – with Neftekhimik, Ak Bars – with Avangard, and Salavat Yulaev – with Sibir.
The playoffs will start on March 1st. The winner of the series will become the owner of the Gagarin Cup.
Source: Lenta
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