Kontinental Hockey League team changes
From the league's inception in 2008 there have always been team changes in the Kontinental Hockey League between seasons, as some new teams have joined the league or others have left it. There is no promotion/relegation system with the VHL in place like there was with the Superleague and Vysshaya Liga. The number of teams in the league stayed at 24 throughout the first two seasons. In the third season the number of teams was reduced to 23 because Budivelnyk, a team that planned to join the league, dropped out before the start of the season.[1] Initially, Lev Poprad replaced Budivelnyk to retain the number of teams at 24.[2] However, Lev was excluded by the KHL before the start of that season,[3] but would be accepted into the league for 2011–12. The league plans to expand this number for future seasons. The inaugural season of KHL included all 20 teams of the 2007–08 Russian Superleague. Non–Russian teams Barys Astana, Dinamo Riga and Dinamo Minsk also joined the newly formed league. Likewise, the recreated team of Khimik Voskresensk, the champion of the 2007–08 season of the Major League, joined. Thus the initial number of teams was 24.
Team changes by season
| Season | Teams left the league | Fate of the team | Teams joined the league | Whence | Number of teams in the league | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | inaugural season of competition | 24 | ||||
| 2009–10 | Russia Khimik | Joined VHL | Russia Avtomobilist | VHL | 24 | |
| 2010–11 | Russia Lada | Joined VHL | Russia UHC Dynamo | Newly created team by merger of Dynamo and MVD | 23 | |
| Russia Dynamo M | Merged with MVD to form UHC Dynamo | Russia Yugra | VHL | |||
| Russia MVD | Merged with Dynamo to form UHC Dynamo | |||||
| 2011–12 | Russia Lokomotiv | Scratched from season due to plane crash | Slovakia Lev Poprad | Newly created team | 23 | |
| 2012–13 | Slovakia Lev Poprad | Disbanded | Slovakia Slovan | Slovak Extraliga | 26 | |
| Ukraine Donbass | VHL | |||||
| Russia Lokomotiv | Returned to KHL after plane tragedy | |||||
| Czech Republic Lev Praha | Newly created team | |||||
| 2013–14 | Russia Admiral | Newly created team | 28 | |||
| Croatia Medveščak | Austrian EBEL | |||||
| 2014–15 | Ukraine Donbass | Joined the Ukrainian Hockey Extra League prior to the 2015–16 season, after one year of inactivity. | Russia Lada Togliatti | Returned to the league | 28 | |
| Czech Republic Lev Praha | Disbanded | Finland Jokerit | Liiga | |||
| Russia Spartak Moscow | Took one year off due to financial issues | Russia HC Sochi | Newly created team | |||
| 2015–16 | Russia Atlant | Folded due to financial issues. | Russia Spartak Moscow | Returned to the league | 28 | |
| 2016–17 | China HC Red Star Kunlun | Newly created team | 29 | |||
| 2017–18 | Croatia Medveščak | Returned to Austrian EBEL | 27 | |||
| Russia Metallurg Novokuznetsk | Joined VHL | |||||
| 2018–19 | Russia Lada | Rejoined VHL | 25 | |||
| Russia Yugra | Joined VHL | |||||
| 2019–20 | Slovakia Slovan | Left league due to financial issues to attempt to rejoin Slovak Extraliga | 24 | |||
| 2020–21 | Russia Admiral | Took hiatus due to financial issues | 23 | |||
| 2021–22 | Latvia Dinamo Riga Finland Jokerit |
Left the league due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine | Russia Admiral | Return to league after COVID-19 break | 22 | |
Division lineup changes
References
- ↑ "Budivelnik will not play in KHL". Kontinental Hockey League. 26 June 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
- ↑ "HC Lev to join KHL". Kontinental Hockey League. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ↑ "Лев" не сыграет в ближайшем сезоне (in русский). Kontinental Hockey League. 28 July 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
- ↑ "Regular Season Format Unveiled". 2014-07-09. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
- ↑ "League confirms structure for the new season". 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2019-08-08.