Bobrov Division

Bobrov Division
Conference Western Conference
League Kontinental Hockey League
Sport Ice Hockey
Inaugural season 2008–09
No. of teams 7
Most recent champion(s) SKA Saint Petersburg (4th title)
Most titles SKA Saint Petersburg (4 titles)

The KHL's Bobrov Division was formed in 2008 as part of the league's inauguration and is part of the Western conference since the second season of KHL when the conferences were established. It is one of 4 divisions. It is named in honor of Vsevolod Bobrov; storied ice hockey gold medalist for the Soviet Union and former CSKA and VVS player.

Division lineup

The Bobrov division is currently made up of the following teams:

Lineup history

Initial lineup (2008)

In the first KHL season, the division alignment was determined by team strength and the Bobrov division consisted of: Salavat Yulaev Ufa, Atlant Moscow Oblast, HC Dinamo Minsk, Metallurg Novokuznetsk, Severstal Cherepovets and Spartak Moscow.

Re-alignment in 2009

With the geographical alignment of the divisions for the 2009–10 season, the composition of the Bobrov division was completely changed. Only Spartak Moscow and Dinamo Minsk remained in the division. They were joined by the two other teams from Moscow, CSKA Moscow and Dynamo Moscow, as well as SKA Saint Petersburg and Dinamo Riga. Thus, the division was made up of the most westerly teams of the KHL.

Dynamo-MVD merger (2010)

In 2010, Dynamo Moscow merged with HC MVD (from the Tarasov Division). The new team, UHC Dynamo, took the place of the old Dynamo in this division. Dinamo Minsk left for the Tarasov Division and was replaced by HC Lev Poprad in this division. However later Lev was excluded from the league and the Bobrov Division became the first division in the history of the KHL to have the number of teams at 5 instead of 6.

2011 Expansion

In 2011, the KHL expanded for the first time beyond the borders of the post-Soviet states by admitting HC Lev Poprad, a newly formed team that is based in Poprad, Slovakia.

2012 Expansion

The expansion to 26 teams for the 2012–13 season caused some re-alignments among the Western conference divisions. The two newcomers Slovan Bratislava from Slovakia and HC Donbass from Ukraine were added to the Boborv division. In the meantime, two Moscow teams, Spartak and CSKA were moved to the Tarasov Division, while Vityaz Chekhov move to Bobrov. HC Lev Poprad was dissolved and replaced by a new organization, Lev Praha from Prague, Czech Republic. This brought the number of teams in the Bobrov division to 7, representing 5 different countries.

2013 expansion and re-alignment

The expansion to 28 teams for the 2013–14 season caused some re-alignments among the Western conference divisions; as such, Croatian newcomer KHL Medveščak Zagreb were added to the Borbov division, while HC Vityaz, HC Donbass and Dynamo Moscow were moved to the Tarasov Division and replaced by Dinamo Minsk and CSKA Moscow.

2014 changes

Lev Praha had to withdraw prior to the 2014–15 season for financial reasons, whereas Jokerit from Helsinki, Finland joined. Furthermore, CSKA Moscow and Atlant Moscow Oblast swapped divisions.

Division winners

Gagarin Cup winners produced

References