KHL Season 2022-23

[Caser]

It was fun, but apparently all the fairytales are over, conference finals look more or less as usual now.

 

[Mawwerg]

CSKA had 19 shots on goal in this game. Was there a series a winner had less than 20 shots on goal in every winning game?

 

[vorky]

 

[SoundAndFury]

So since 2015, there was one time when the Western Conference final wasn't between CSKA and SKA.

 

[hansomreiste]

I sometimes wonder whether it would be a better idea to kick out a few teams and just go for round-robin like in other European leagues. Maybe 16 teams. Everyone meets each other four times to make it a 60-game regular season followed by play-in (7 vs 10, 8 vs 9, best of three) then traditional playoff.

West is not even bad but SKA & CSKA are simply too good for the rest even when they are not that good. In my proposal, long distances could arguably pose a problem but fewer games/teams balances it out imo. In two trips you could get all Khabarovsk-Vladivostok-Omsk-Novosibirsk out of the way.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Will there be any streams of the Semifinals?

 

[Caser]

Will there be any streams of the Semifinals?

Legal ones - extremely unlikely and illegal ones are not allowed to be posted here.

 

[Rigafan]

Will there be any streams of the Semifinals?

I can purchase a stream here from KHL website -

 

[vorky]

Average attendance of Gagarin Cup 2nd round was 8450 fans due to small venues (Torpedo, Admiral). Looks like the Conference Finals will average close to 10 000 fans, depends on CSKA.

 

[hansomreiste]

We made it 1-1 in Kazan. Franklin goes to Omsk.

I'm excited about our PP. Never looked so sharp to me to be fair, unbelievable in Kazan. If we can keep that up I can definitely see a 4-2 against Ak Bars. Personally speaking I don't count thg earlier title against CSKA as we had to play in Moscow LOL, I swear I'll run on the streets if we get Kubok Gagarin this time around. TBF I think both western teams are a tad better than us but there is room to dream. АВАНГАРД ВПЕРЁД!

 

[hansomreiste]

Both series tied at one before switching cities. If SKA had lost today, I'd honestly cross them off, they have no chance of coming back against CSKA with Budget Wolverine at the helm. Now it's all wide open. Asking for two wins in Omsk would probably be too optimistic, I'm not gonna be unhappy with 2-2 going back to Kazan honestly. For years I've been dreaming of SKA-Avangard tie for some reason, let's see if it materializes. CSKA are kinda scary, proper mentality monsters, always managing to turn the dark corners somehow.

 

[vorky]

 

[hansomreiste]

I would be more optimistic for the next game if we had lost 5-0 today... This loss will not be easy to shake off mentally. Grandpas from Kazan showed us the importance of being clinical and keeping your head up in critical moments. Really didn't see the point of challenging against the goal, we could have two more valuable minutes to... well, bang it up randomly and not score, but still better than defending eh.

Avangard have never come back from 3-1 before. I'm not hopeless - we can definitely match the intensity and skill level of Ak Bars but it will be a monumental task to get three games straight from those mentality monsters. We beat them in Kazan and played well. Hope the guys can stay calm and take it one game at a time.

 

[cska78]

I was super mad that CSKA lost the last game, I didn't watch the whole game, but when I did they seemed to be a stronger team. This could be a momentum-shifter for SKA.

Both series tied at one before switching cities. If SKA had lost today, I'd honestly cross them off, they have no chance of coming back against CSKA with Budget Wolverine at the helm. Now it's all wide open. Asking for two wins in Omsk would probably be too optimistic, I'm not gonna be unhappy with 2-2 going back to Kazan honestly. For years I've been dreaming of SKA-Avangard tie for some reason, let's see if it materializes. CSKA are kinda scary, proper mentality monsters, always managing to turn the dark corners somehow.

I am afraid that losing the game they shouldn't have lost may have some bad repercussions for CSKA

 

[hansomreiste]

I was super mad that CSKA lost the last game, I didn't watch the whole game, but when I did they seemed to be a stronger team. This could be a momentum-shifter for SKA.


I am afraid that losing the game they shouldn't have lost may have some bad repercussions for CSKA

I think CSKA are still in a better position. They can make such mistakes throughout the series but they somehow find it in themselves to bounce back every time when it matters unlike our boys. SKA can play extremely good hockey at times but I still find them a little bit too inconsistent and leaky to best CSKA over seven games.

Now all the eyes will be on SPb and Moscow because well Ak Bars finished us. Going out at conference finals is no reason to be mad under normal circumstances but the way we were eliminated was so hurtful. I think there were some questionable calls from refs as well but I don't wanna talk about it. You simply can't fall apart like this after going up by two goals. Not the first time either. Had we not choked in the first game in Omsk and won it, it would be 3-2 for Ak Bars in best case scenario now. Something just doesn't work for this team past 50th minute. And the team putting so much pressure on us and suffocating with intense is Ak Bars with an average player age of 765. This could go to seven games. We could possibly win in six. Instead we got a gentleman's sweep.

For better viewing experience I'm honestly rooting for SKA-Ak Bars final which can go both ways and offer a lot of interesting stories. Of course you never know how it will turn out but I have a feeling this CSKA would finish Ak Bars in five games tops. They are just not good against teams which can stay in the game and defend.

 

[Mawwerg]

SKA looks hopeless close to end of second.

 

[vorky]

Average attendance of Conference Final series was 10 760 fans per game.

 

[Mawwerg]

Ak Bars started the final with a confident win.

 

[vorky]

Two questions for the remainder of the playoff are as follows

1.Will they reach the KHL playoff record in total attendance?
2.Will the KHL playoff be the most attended (on average) in European hockey for the first time?

 

[vorky]

15 000 fans from total attendance record. And at least 3 games to go.

 

[Mawwerg]

CSKA striked back with another <20 shots on goal victory. And fifth shutout for Adam Reideborn.

 

[Mawwerg]

This time 15 were enough. CSKA take the lead in the series.

 

[Mawwerg]

Another win for CSKA. They lead 3-1 and are just one win from the cup.

 

[vorky]

New attendance record, over 700 000 spectators.

 

[Mawwerg]

Ak Bars survived although Yudin with 1-1 in third decided it's a great plan to head kick a player on CSKA bench and receive a double minor.