KHL Season Almost Here

The KHL season is less than a month away, and there are a few changes to the league's structure.  Metallurg Magnitigorsk will begin the season as the defending Gagarian Cup champions, and three teams will be joining the league while replacing three teams that suspended operations for the season.

Donbass Donetsk is suspending operations due to civil unrest in the Ukraine while Lev Praha and Spartak Moscow are both sitting out due to financial issues.  Replacing the three teams will be Jokerit Helsinki, making them the first Finnish squad to be in the KHL, HC Sochi, who is looking to capitalize on the momentum that the Winter Olympics created for the town, and Lada Togliatti, who was in the KHL from 2008 through 2010, when arena issues forced them to drop into a lower league.

SKA Saint Petersburg is also going into the season with a major change, this one behind the bench, as a disappointing end to a season with high expectations led them to tab Vyacheslav Bykov as the new head coach.  Expectations will forever be high with the team that has never won a championship in their history, which dates back to 1946.