Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.
2024-25 KHL Preview
The new season of the KHL gets underway in September 2024 and Metallurg Magnitogorsk will be looking to defend their Gagarin Cup after whitewashing Lokomotiv Yaroslavl 4-0 in last season's final.
That was title number six for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and their first title since 2016 and they ended CSKA Moscow's quest for a third consecutive title who went out in the first round of the playoffs.
They will head into the 2023-24 season looking to back up their championship win, a feat they have yet to achieve in the past when winning previous championships.
Throughout the season be sure to head over to the Kontinental Hockey League Predictions from our expert ice hockey tipsters to see which teams they are backing to be successful.
Swedish Hockey League (SHL) Preview & Betting Guide
How often do Favourites win in KHL?
Compared to the NHL favourites, the KHL favourites have a higher win rate, in the NHL over the past five seasons, the home favourites have won 60.9% of the games which is much less than the 64.3% in the KHL and the away favourites are the same story, in the NHL it is 60.7% compared to the 61.3% in the KHL which means overall the favourites are more reliable in the KHL than they are in the NHL based on the past five seasons.
KHL vs NHL Favourites
2.4% more favourites won in the KHL (63.2%) than in the NHL (60.8%) when comparing the last five seasons.
The most successful team when favourites in the KHL is Dynamo Moscow, over the past five seasons, they have won 59 of their 82 games (72%) when favourites and their away percentage is 70.6% when favourites, which is close to their home percentage (72.9%). The only other team to have over a 70% win rate when favourites is SKA St. Petersburg, they have won 70.6% (190-269) of their games when favourites.
Favourites over the last 5 seasons
- 2019-20
- Home: 64.4% (309-480)
- Away: 60.1% (158-263)
- 2020-21
- Home: 66.5% (268-403)
- Away: 66.8% (187-280)
- 2021-22
- Home: 62.3% (220-353)
- Away: 65.1% (142-218)
- 2022-23
- Home: 63.6% (304-478)
- Away: 55.2% (148-268)
- 2023-24
- Home: 64.7% (319-493)
- Away: 60.0% (171-285)
- Overall
- Home: 64.3% (1420-2207)
- Away: 61.3% (806-1314)
Both Jokerit and SKA St. Petersburg are worth a mention on the other side of things, they both have strike rates of 48% or more when they are priced up as the underdogs, Kokerit with 50% (28-56) and SKA St. Petersburg with 48.6% (18-37) so are both worth watching out for as they may have a bit of value about them as the average league success for the underdogs over the last five seasons is only 36.7% so they are both well above that. See if the OLBG tipsters are backing any of the favourites or underdogs on the KHL predictions for today.
*Favourite statistics only include regular-season games
NHL Stanley Cup Preview & Betting Guide
Past Gagarin Cup Winners
The winner of the KHL season after the playoffs receives the Gagarin Cup, named after the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin, what does he have to do with hockey? Nothing, but the last game of the season is usually played around the anniversary (12th April) of his flight.
The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) was founded in 2008, the 2019-20 season was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic which means we have had a total of fifteen winners of the Gagarin Cup and we are split at seven wins from the eastern conference teams and seven wins for the western conference teams, the inaugural season which was won by AK Bars Kazan did not have a conference split.
AK Bars Kazan has made the final five times whilst CSKA Moscow have made the final on six occasions and they are well matched with Kazan & CSKA both winning three titles but it is CSKA who have had better recent success winning two of the last three and beating Kazan in 2023 final. Metallurg Magnitogorsk's win in 2024 added to their wins in both 2014 & 2016 making them also three-time winners.
Both Dynamo Moscow (2012 & 2013) and SKA Saint Petersburg (2015 & 2017) have 100% records when making the finals having both won the two finals they have appeared in.
Who will be adding to their winning record this season? We have a lot of expert tipsters for ice hockey, try our Best Ice Hockey Tipsters page which will display only hockey tipsters who have shown a profit over the past year.
| Team | Apps | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSKA Moscow | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Ak Bars Kazan | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Metallurg Magnitogorsk | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Avangard Omsk | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| SKA Saint Petersburg | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Lokomotiv Yaroslavl | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| HC MVD | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Atlant Moscow Oblast | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Traktor Chelyabinsk | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Lev Prague | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2023-24 KHL Bracket
Past Continental Cup Winners
The Continental Cup is awarded to the regular-season winners, the team who amasses the most points before the playoffs, since the founding of the league, there has been a total of seven different winners of the trophy.
Do the Continental Cup winners do well in the playoffs? There is a simple answer to that and it's not really! You would expect following a very good regular season that the winners would go on to perform well in the postseason, however, in the twelve seasons (2019-20 had no postseason) only one Continental Cup winner has also gone on to win the Gagarin Cup, that was CSKA Moscow in the 2018-19 season.
Furthermore, only a total of three of the winners made the Gagarin Cup finals, the other two have also been CSKA Moscow who lost in the final in both 2016 & 2021. The Continental Cup has been awarded to a team from the Western Conference every year since 2013.
If you are planning on a bet on the KHL this season then before doing so make sure to read our Best Bookmaker for Ice Hockey guide to make sure that you get the most out of your betting experience.
| Season | Team (Points) | Playoff Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | Dynamo Moscow (W) (98) | Lost in Conference Quarter-Finals |
| 2022-23 | SKA Saint Petersburg (W) (105) | Lost in Conference Semi-Finals |
| 2021–22 | No Winner | |
| 2020–21 | CSKA Moscow (W) (91) | Lost in the Gagarin Cup Finals |
| 2019–20 | CSKA Moscow (W) (94) | Playoffs not completed |
| 2018–19 | CSKA Moscow (W) (106) | Won Gagarin Cup |
| 2017–18 | SKA Saint Petersburg (W) (138) | Lost in Conference Finals |
| 2016–17 | CSKA Moscow (W) (137) | Lost in Conference Semi-Finals |
| 2015–16 | CSKA Moscow (W) (127) | Lost in the Gagarin Cup Finals |
| 2014–15 | CSKA Moscow (W) (139) | Lost in Conference Finals |
KHL Western Conference Teams
Teams in the Bobrov Division
The Bobrov Division is named after the great Vsevolod Bobrov, the former Soviet Union gold medalist and former CSKA Moscow player.
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity | Founded | Joined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod | Nizhny Novgorod (FIN) | Trade Union Sport Palace | 5,500 | 1947 | 2008 |
| SKA Saint Petersburg | Saint Petersburg (RUS) | Ice Palace | 12,300 | 1946 | 2008 |
| HC Sochi | Sochi (RUS) | Bolshoy Ice Dome | 12,000 | 2014 | |
| Spartak Moscow | Moscow (RUS) | Megasport Arena | 12,126 | 1946 | 2008 |
| Vityaz Podolsk | Podolsk (RUS) | Vityaz Ice Palace | 5,500 | 1996 | 2008 |
Teams in the Tarasov Division
Named after the 'Father of Russian Hockey', the hockey hall of fame legend Anatoli Tarasov, the man who put the Soviet Union on the hockey map.
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity | Founded | Joined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSKA Moscow | Moscow (RUS) | CSKA Arena | 12,100 | 1946 | 2008 |
| Dinamo Minsk | Minsk (BLR) | Minsk-Arena | 15,086 | 2004 | 2008 |
| Kunlun Red Star | Beijing (CHN) | Mytishchi Arena | 7,000 | 2016 | |
| Dynamo Moscow | Moscow (RUS) | VTB Arena | 10,495 | 1946 | 2008 |
| Lokomotiv Yaroslavl | Yaroslavl (RUS) | Arena 2000 | 9,070 | 1959 | 2008 |
| Severstal Cherepovets | Cherepovets (RUS) | Ice Palace | 5,583 | 1956 | 2008 |
KHL Eastern Conference Teams
Teams in the Kharlamov Division
The Kharlamov division is another division that is named after an Olympic gold medalist for the Soviet Union and former CKSA player, Valeri Kharlamov who is also inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity | Founded | Joined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ak Bars Kazan | Kazan (RUS) | TatNeft Arena | 8,895 | 1956 | 2008 |
| Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg | Yekaterinburg (RUS) | KRK Uralets | 5,545 | 2006 | 2009 |
| Lada Togliatti | Tolyatti (RUS) | Lada Arena | 6,000 | 1976 | 2008 |
| Metallurg Magnitogorsk | Magnitogorsk (RUS) | Arena Metallurg | 7,704 | 1950 | 2008 |
| Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk | Nizhnekamsk (RUS) | SCC Arena | 5,500 | 1968 | 2008 |
| Traktor Chelyabinsk | Chelyabinsk (RUS) | Traktor Ice Arena | 7,500 | 1947 | 2008 |
Teams in the Chernyshev Division
Arkady Ivanovich Chernyshev whom this division is named in honour of was remembered as more influential in the hockey world after he retired from playing, he was the coach of the national team (Soviet Union) and also Dynamo Moscow and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame.
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity | Founded | Joined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Admiral Vladivostok | Vladivostok (RUS) | Fetisov Arena | 5,500 | 2013 | |
| Amur Khabarovsk | Khabarovsk (RUS) | Platinum Arena | 7,100 | 1966 | 2008 |
| Avangard Omsk | Omsk (Balashikha) (RUS) | Balashikha Arena | 5,678 | 1950 | 2008 |
| Barys Astana | Astana (KAZ) | Barys Arena | 11,502 | 1999 | 2008 |
| Salavat Yulaev Ufa | Ufa (RUS) | Ufa Arena | 8,070 | 1957 | 2008 |
| Sibir Novosibirsk | Novosibirsk (RUS) | Ice Sports Palace Sibir | 7,420 | 1962 | 2008 |
Author Information
Andy Powell manages this Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) Preview & Betting Guide and other hockey content in this section of the site as well as the Ice Hockey Tipsters in the OLBG tipster competition in his role in the OLBG Expert Team. Andy meticulously updates the date and results for these pieces and is an erstwhile Penguins fan in the NHL. He provides Ice Hockey betting advice in our bookmaker reviews as well as providing a huge contribution to the Best Ice Hockey Betting Sites Guide.
More Ice Hockey Blogs
As well as this blog and those already mentioned, here are the other ice hockey tournaments that we have looked at in blogs:
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