The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) will not play the remaining matches of the regular season, but will start the playoffs on March 1. This was reported on February 5 on website leagues.
The results of the regular season will be fixed according to the results of the games of 16 teams, then they plan to determine the pairs of the playoffs.
“In order for the playoffs to take place, taking into account the current situation with the pandemic, as comfortably as possible for the participating teams and fans, the League will submit for the approval of the Board and the Board of Directors and agreement with the FHR the decision not to play the remaining games of the regular season, approving a new procedure for determining the results of the regular season in the current season,” said KHL President Alexei Morozov.
This decision was made, among other things, because of the risk of the spread of coronavirus among hockey players.
“…there is a risk of infection for players in the remaining matches of the regular season, as they would have to fly to different cities,” Morozov added.
On January 12, the KHL decided to postpone the regular season matches scheduled for the period from January 15 to 21. The transfer of games was associated with the epidemiological situation with coronavirus. So, the day before it became known that 60 team representatives fell ill with COVID-19.
It was assumed that the matches would be played during the Olympic pause, but later it was decided not to play regular season games during this period either.
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