THN Archive: The KHL

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The KHL—Nov 9, 2015 - VOL. 69, Issue 06 - Jared ClintonAT THE 2013 SPENGLER CUP, the KHL’s CSKA Moscow downed the AHL’s Rochester Americans 4-3 in a round-robin game. CSKA went on to make the final, while the Americans dropped every single game they played by a combined score of 15-6.

On a league-specific scale, the difference between Moscow and Rochester wasn’t much. Both had win percentages bordering on 60 percent in their respective leagues, finished in a playoff positions and were steady on offense and defense. But when it came to a head-to-head, the KHL came out on top.

And that’s the thing: play that 2013 contest 10 times and the result won’t change. The KHL is the world’s second-best league, and there’s really no question.From a pure talent standpoint, only the NHL beats what the KHL can offer.

Bona fide superstar Ilya Kovalchuk is the biggest name in the KHL, but the league also plays host to a number of former NHLers, including Alexander Radulov, Nigel Dawes, Matt Gilroy and Cam Barker. While it’s not top-tier NHL talent, all four are players whose game would be wasted in the AHL. It’s for that very reason players head to the KHL instead of toiling in North America’s minor league system.

Putting together an all-star team of KHLers since the league’s inaugural season in 2008 shows how immensely talented some of these players are. Of course, Kovalchuk and Radulov would be on the list, but so would Jaromir Jagr, Alexei Yashin, Oleg Saprykin, the game has benefitted in a big way. In the AHL, teams must sometimes play the way the big club wishes, teaching system over skill.

Not so in the KHL, where each team plays to its strengths and produces a style to fit the talent on its roster. That makes for more exciting hockey and a league-wide product that isn’t a copy of the leag