The 2015-2016 KHL season has come to a decisive final stage. On February 21st, the play-off stage starts, in which the 16 best clubs in the league will start fighting for the Gagarin Cup following the results of the regular season.
The KHL hockey rules determine the participation of 28 clubs from Russia and neighboring countries, divided into two conferences (West and East). The top eight teams from the conferences each advance to the knockout stage. Therefore, taking into account the final confrontation in the fight for the Gagarin Cup, the first playoff matches begin with the 1/8 finals. Arranged at the conference - the playoffs begin with the quarterfinals in the East and West. Upon identifying the winner of the conferences, a decisive series of games is determined for the possession of the honorable trophy - the Gagarin Cup.
Western Conference Quarterfinals Schedule
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The first pair of quarterfinalists in the West were the 2015-2016 KHL regular season champion CSKA Moscow and the club that took the eighth place in the Western Conference table. The rivals of the "army" were hockey players from the club "Slovan" (teams from the capital of Slovakia). The full timetable for this episode is below:
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The best foreign team in the KHL Finnish “Jokerit” took the second place in the table of the Western Conference. Thanks to this, the Helsinki club will meet in the quarterfinals with the Nizhny Novgorod "Torpedo". The Finns will play their first matches at their native Hartwal Arena.
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The most unpredictable couple in the West is the confrontation between the current Gagarin Cup winners SKA and the promising team from Yaroslavl. At the same time, Lokomotiv has the advantage of its home field, as the team that took a higher place in the regular season table.
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Another pair of the 2015-2015 KHL playoff quarterfinals was the confrontation between the Sochi hockey club and the two-time Gagarin Cup winners of the Dynamo Moscow. Dynamo Moscow will host the first two games in the capital of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
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Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Schedule
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The leader of the Eastern Conference "Avangard" Omsk in the 2015-2016 season excelled at the end of the regular season in its territorial group. Thanks to this, in the 1/8 finals of the Gagarin Cup, Omsk will play with Nizhnekamsk "Neftekhimik".
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In one of the pairs of the quarterfinals of the East, spectators will face a fascinating Ural confrontation. Metallurg Magnitogorsk to meet with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg hockey players. Despite the great title of the Magnitogorsk team, this confrontation this season does not look entirely unambiguous in terms of early determination of the winner.
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A special place among all matches of the 1/8 finals of the Gagarin Cup 2015-2016 is occupied by the confrontation between Salavat Yulaev and Ak Bars. The matches between Ufa and Kazan are traditionally called the green derby. The first meetings of the series will be held in Ufa, which gives the advantage of their field to “Salavat Yulaev”.
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Novosibirsk “Siberia” has been demonstrating very meaningful hockey for several seasons in a row. In the current KHL draw, the Siberians took third place in the Eastern Conference table. This allowed the newly formed club from Vladivostok to become a rival. The full schedule of matches "Siberia" - "Admiral" is presented below:
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This is how the calendar of the KHL playoffs 2015-2016 is seen starting from the 1/8 finals. Hockey fans will face exciting confrontations at both conferences, which gives great interest to the next Gagarin Cup.
