2022-2023 KHL Schedule: record number of games and one international break
KHL.ru presents the schedule for the 2022-2023 regular season.
This season's schedule was drawn up by specialist KHL group including stats expert Vladimir Zhidkov. As in previous years, the bulk of the work was automated.
The KHL's regular season starts on Sep. 1, 2022 in Moscow, where Gagarin Cup winner CSKA will host runner-up Metallurg.
On the following day, Avtomobilist, Traktor, Kunlun Red Star, Spartak and HC Sochi will play their first home games. As the season moves into its first weekend there are some exciting match-ups in prospects: on Sep. 3, Dynamo Moscow entertains an Ak Bars team featuring ex-Blue-and-Whites Vadim Shipachyov, Slava Voynov and Stanislav Galiyev, as well as head coach Oleg Znarok who won two Gagarin Cup with Dynamo. On the same day, SKA faces Salavat Yulaev in St. Petersburg, and on Sunday Sep. 4, Traktor takes on Lokomotiv.
The regular season runs through Feb. 26, 2023. There are 748 games scheduled for 164 gamedays, with each club preparing for a record-breaking 68 regular season engagements.
Each team’s schedule follows this formula:
42 games as a round robin (21 home, 21 on the road);
20 further games with each team from the same conference (10 home, 10 on the road);
6 further games against opposition selected with a view to increasing the number of high-profile match-ups (3 home, 3 on the road).
The regular season will have just one international break, from Dec. 12-18, 2022. That pause will be preceded by the 2022 All-Star Week in Chelyabinsk on Dec. 10 and 11. This enables us to reduce the average number of games per day to 4.51.
The number of blank days is also reduced to a minimum. Only Feb. 6 and 8 are blank, due to other events at several arenas and logistical issues surrounding the team’s travels to road games at that time. Moscow (Dynamo, CSKA and Spartak), St. Petersburg and Omsk are the cities where the arenas are most likely to have other bookings, with up to 97 days unavailable for hockey.
In 2022-2023 the schedule has the most even possible spread of games through each month of the season:
|
Month |
Games |
|
Sep. 2022 |
133 |
|
Oct. 2022 |
133 |
|
Nov. 2022 |
131 |
|
Dec. 2022 |
101 |
|
Jan. 2023 |
133 |
|
Feb. 2023 |
117 |
Notable games:
Sep. 1, 2022 – CSKA vs Metallurg in the Opening Cup.
Sep. 3 2022 – Dynamo Moscow takes on an Ak Bars team featuring Vadim Shipachyov, the league’s leading scorer in recent seasons.
Sep. 7 2022 – For the second time since 2011, Lokomotiv plays on the anniversary of the air disaster.
Sep. 12 2022 – Salavat Yulaev defenseman Evgeny Biryukov could become the first man to play 900 KHL games. Ufa takes on Spartak that day.
Sep. 13 2022 – The season’s first Siberian derby between Sibir and Avangard.
Sep. 22 2022 – Dynamo Moscow head coach Alexei Kudashov could become the 10th man to coach 400 games in the KHL. The Blue-and-Whites are due to play Severstal that day.
Sep. 26 2022 – The season’s first Moscow derby between CSKA and Spartak.
Sep. 27 2022 – The season’s first ‘green derby’ between Salavat Yulaev and Ak Bars.
Oct. 1 2022 – For the first time in four games, Avangard plays in Omsk. Sibir provides the opposition.
Oct. 3 2022 – The season’s first clash between Western Conference powerhouses CSKA and SKA.
Oct. 4 2022 – The season’s first Ural derby between Traktor and Metallurg.
Oct. 8 2022 – Ak Bars forward Vadim Shipachyov could play his 843rd KHL game, overtaking Sergei Mozyakin’s appearance record for forwards. Ak Bars is due to entertain Barys on this date.
Oct. 17 2022 – The season’s first Moscow derby between Dynamo and CSKA.
Nov. 8 2022 – Ak Bars head coach Oleg Znarok could become the third man to coach a team in 700 KHL games. Ak Bars is due to host Neftekhimik on that day.
Nov. 11 2022 – Barys head coach Andrei Skabelka could become the sixth man to coach 500 KHL games. The Kazakh team plays on the road at Metallurg.
Nov 14 2022 – The season’s first Dynamo vs Spartak derby.
Nov. 26 2022 – Lokomotiv forward Yegor Averin could become the sixth player to reach 800 KHL games. Loko entertains Sibir that evening.
Nov. 28 2022 – Vityaz head coach Vyacheslav Butsayev could become the 11th man to coach 400 games in the KHL. His team travels to Moscow to face one of his former clubs, CSKA.
Dec. 4 2022 – SKA forward Evgeny Ketov could become the seventh player to feature in 800 KHL games. SKA travels to Kunlun Red Star on that day.
Dec. 5 2022 – the season’s first Far East derby between Admiral and Amur.
Dec. 10-11 2022 – KHL All-Star Game in Chelyabinsk.
Dec. 12-18 2022 – the season’s only international break.
Jan. 31 2023 – Metallurg head coach Ilya Vorobyov could become the seventh man to coach 500 KHL games. On this date, Metallurg travels to Severstal.
Feb. 7 2023 – Neftekhimik forward Denis Parshin could become the 16th player to complete 1,000 games in Russia’s top league. Neftekhimik entertains Ak Bars that day.
Feb. 18 2023 – Salavat Yulaev captain Grigory Panin could become the 17th player to complete 1,000 games in Russia’s top league. Ufa entertains Sibir that day.
