KHL - 5 January 2021

Salavat Yulaev Ufa vs. Avangard Omsk

From Belarus' capital the journey takes Avangard into way more familiar territory in the East, where they are still listed, in the Chernyshev Division. Avangard will look to make up for the bitter overtime loss against Dinamo Minsk, conceding a penalty first and a powerplay goal with it.

SU7312 MSQ 1030-1525 UFA A320 VP-BTA (04/01/21)

SU7311 UFA 2030-2050 SVO A320 (05/01/21)

HC Sochi vs. Jokerit Helsinki

After a point won (or a game lost) at CSKA Moscow, Jokerit are off to the Black Sea for a game against Sochi, who look more and more likely to miss the playoffs again.

AY7503 SVO 2230-0110(+1) AER A319 (03/01/21)

AY7504 AER 2240-0045(+1) HEL A319 (05/01/21)

Kunlun Red Star vs. Severstal Cherepovets

It's a double Moscow trip for Severstal - and yet they are playing none of the Moscow teams. Chinese outfit Kunlun are first up on the menu, in Mytishchi, before a trip to Balashikha, the temporary home of Avangard Omsk.

SSF9922 CEE 1500-1550 SVO SU95 (04/01/21)

CSKA Moscow vs. Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg

A goalless draw in regulation time meant overtime for Avto in Ufa - and they lost to a sudden death goal by Philip Larsen. In Sunday's highest profile game against Jokerit, CSKA went into overtime too - and they won the game thanks to a goal by Andrei Svetlakov. Surely Ilya Kovalchuk and his men will look to improve on their goalless performance against CSKA, which shipped four goal still in the 5-4 OT win.

MMM9672 UFA 2122-2120 VKO A320 VQ-BIS (03/01/21)

Dinamo Minsk vs. SKA St. Petersburg

The first game of the new year takes SKA to Belarus, where they will play against Dinamo Minsk. Minsk has won the first game this year in overtime against Avangard, so will look to use some of the momentum against one of the strongest sides in the competition.

FV4201 LED xxxx-1720 MSQ A319 (04/01/21)

KHL - 3 January 2021

3 January 2021

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk vs. Sibir Novosibirsk

These are two teams that are most probably out of the run for the playoffs. The hosts from Tatarstan are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with just 22 points to show from 40 matches, while Sibir sits five points behind the last playoff berth, but with already three more matches played than Barys in eighth position. Sibir will start a rare East-West road trip with S7 Airlines, formerly known as Sibir Airlines of course. After Nizhnekamsk, they will visit Yaroslavl and Mytishchi, where they will face Lokomotiv and Kunlun Red Star.

SBI8513 OVB 1700-1700 NBC A320 (02/01/21)

Salavat Yulaev Ufa vs. Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg

With most teams using relatively common airliners these days, Avto is probably the most extravagant traveling unit in the KHL at the moment. For their road trips they are using an Airbus A320 that was once destined to be delivered to the SAAD Group in Saudi Arabia and to date still retains the fancy livery from back then. The first trip of 2021 will take Avto to Ufa and then on to Moscow, where they will face CSKA before heading home to the Ural again.

MMM9671 SVX 1400-1500 UFA A320 VQ-BIS (02/01/21)

MMM9672 UFA 2122-xxxx MOW A320 VQ-BIS (03/01/21)

Airbus A320 M-YKDA, these days registered as VQ-BIS, seen at Basel-Mulhouse in March 2017

CSKA Moscow vs. Jokerit Helsinki

Jokerit is spending more time on the road than any other team this season, with two home matches already re-aligned with their road trips after two lengthy quarantine spells. Coming off a home win over SKA in late December, the Jesters will take on the other "army team", CSKA, in Moscow first up, before heading South to Sochi. They will travel on a Finnair A319, as usual:

AY7501 HEL 1500-1740 SVO A319 (02/01/21)

AY7503 SVO 2230-0110(+1) AER A319 (03/01/21)

HC Sochi vs. Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod

Torpedo may look relatively safe in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, but within only a few games, things may soon look very different. It is vital for them thus to pick up maximum points from the game in Sochi, where the home team is once again struggling. Torpedo is a rare team to travel with Gazpromavia this season, though the type of aircraft is not confirmed yet.

EDIT (02/01/21, 01.45h): The flight will be done by a Sukhoi Superjet.

4G131 GOJ 0940-1200 AER SU95 (02/01/21)

Dinamo Minsk vs. Avangard Omsk

They may be called Avangard Omsk, but of course they are based in Balashikha for the second of probably three or even more seasons. A new arena is being built in Omsk, but may not be open before 2022. As part of the "Far Eastern Division" (Chernyshev Division in KHL speak), Avangard has a heavy traveling schedule too though, and this time they move West to Minsk, before heading back to the mid-East for a game in Ufa, before returning to Greater Moscow again. They will do so with the backing of Aeroflot:

SU7310 SVO 1600-1730 MSQ A320 VP-BTA (02/01/21)

SU7312 MSQ 1030-1525 UFA A320 VP-BTA (04/01/21)

KHL - 22 December 2020

Three games in the East, four games in the West, including some cross-Conference battles between form sides are on the menu for Tuesday 22 December 2020. Amur traveling quite a bit for the remainder of the year means none of the ultimate road trips for any of the Western teams for the time being. But this will change again in January.

Sibir Novosibirsk vs. Amur Khabarovsk

Amur will play the first couple of games of its road trip away in Novosibirsk, against a side that finally seemed to click again earlier this season, only to fade away once more. At least they are still in contention for the playoffs, with Amur four points behind on the table.

SYL9257 KHV 1500-xxxx OVB B738 (20/12/20)

Salavat Yulaev Ufa vs. Dinamo Minsk

The two teams in fifth place of each conference face off in Ufa on Tuesday. The Belarussian representatives will travel there with Belavia, on one of the old rusty Boeing 737-500s:

BRU8741 MSQ 1400-1845 B735 (21/12/20)

Dynamo Moscow vs. Jokerit Helsinki

As mentioned earlier on this blog, Jokerit are in Greater Moscow for two games only, traveling back home to Finland the night after the game at the currently 4th placed Dynamo:

AY7502 SVO 2355-0020(+1) HEL A319 (22/12/20)

** More to follow **

KHL - 21 December 2020

After a few days "off", the KHL is back on Monday with four matches, one of them being a postponed fixture from earlier this season, where COVID-19 struck in or around the Jokerit camp. While the league has made it clear that further called off games in Helsinki may lead to forfeitures, apparently there are also contingency plans to have Jokerit playing matches somewhere in Russia. Other travelling teams for 21 December are Barys Nur-Sultan, Avangard Omsk (just within Moscow Oblast though, so no flight) and HC Sochi.

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod vs. Barys Nur-Sultan

Two neighbors in the Eastern Conference table meet at Nagorny Arena, and while Torpedo has more points, Barys has no less than four matches in hand against their opponents. Barys arrive from their previous fixture away at Kunlun (in Mytishchi) with S7 Airlines:

SBI8401 DME 2130-2245 GOJ B738 (19/12/20)

Vityaz Podolsk vs. Jokerit Helsinki

It's just a short road trip for Jokerit this time, flying out to Moscow Oblast for a couple of matches. The first one is at Vityaz, who are still battling for contention in the Gagarin Cup playoffs. Their target would rather be Spartak though, and not Jokerit, who still have up to six games in hand against all Western opposition. Jokerit, as usual, travels to Moscow with Finnair:

AY7501 HEL 1500-1740 SVO A319 OH-LVL (20/12/20)

AY7502 SVO 2355-0020(+1) HEL A319 (22/12/20)

Dinamo Riga vs. HC Sochi

If you think Sochi is in a bad place hockey-wise, look at Dinamo Riga. Just five regulation wins out of 35 matches means that they are far off the pace and in last place in the Western Conference. Constant changes to their squad don't help and whether Peteris Skudra is a calming influence behind the boards may be a question of its own. Sochi will arrive from the Black Sea with S7 Airlines:

SBI8461 AER 1445-1620 RIX B738 (20/12/20)

KHL 21 January 2020

21 January 2020

Jokerit Helsinki vs. Barys Nur-Sultan

Going into the final straight after the All-Star weekend in Moscow, Barys are traveling to the red-hot Jokerit Helsinki. Barys once again will not take their old Boeing 737 to the West and will trust one of Severstal Avia's Sukhoi Superjets instead. The arrival is believed to be on 20 Januar 2020, but yet to be confirmed in detail.

SSF9745 TSE 1500-1530 HEL SU95 (20/01/20)

SSF9746 HEL xxxx-0050(+1) LED SU95 (21/01/20)

*** Information for the other games yet to come ***

KHL 10 January 2020

10 January 2020

Jokerit Helsinki vs. Severstal Cherepovets

Quite probably the hottest team in the league at the moment, Jokerit is on a long road trip, owed to the fact that they will play two "home" fixtures away in Tallinn, both against their division rivals Severstal Cherepovets. After beating Spartak away, spirits will surely be high on the plane from Sheremetyevo to Tallinn. The Danish contingent in the team looks particularly on fire, with captain Peter Regin as well as the returning Niklas Jensen recently celebrating hat tricks in a big win in Riga.

At some point later at night, Severstal will arrive in Tallinn as well, arriving from Riga on a Superjet of Severstal Avia.

AY7505 SVO 2200-2235 TLL A319 (08/01/20)

SSF9605 RIX 0030-0110 TLL SU95 (09/01/20)

CSKA Moscow vs. Kunlun Red Star 

Rather unusually, Kunlun will have an extra rest day between their games in Minsk and the vastly more difficult task away at CSKA Moscow. They will fly to the capital after their game against Dinamo and will then stay for two nights ahead of their final game of this Western road trip. After said game, they will rest yet another night before boarding the long flight home to Beijing.

SVR8427 DME 1925-2030 MSQ A320 (07/01/20, ferry flt)

SVR8428 MSQ 2200-xxxx DME A320 (07/01/20)

SVR3429 DME 1010-0910(+1) PEK A320 (11/01/20)

Dinamo Minsk vs. Vityaz Podolsk

SBI8533 DME 1500-1630 MSQ A320 (09/01/20)

HC Sochi vs. Dynamo Moscow

YC9791 SVO xxxx-1740 AER A320 (09/01/20)

KHL 8 January 2020 - from Riga to Tallinn via Moscow

8 January 2020

Spartak Moscow vs. Jokerit Helsinki

Finland's representation in the KHL is on a special road trip that will actually lead the team to a couple of home games away from home. As in years gone by, Jokerit are taking their show offshore, playing both home fixtures against Severstal Cherepovets in Tallinn. Before that, they will have to pass yet another test on the road. After Riga on 6 January it will be Spartak at the CSKA arena. Also for Spartak this is a special sequence of games in that back-to-back home matches are fairly rare in the KHL.

AY7503 RIX 1235-1510 SVO A319 (07/01/20)

AY7505 SVO 2200-2235 TLL A319 (08/01/20)

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk vs. Barys Nur-Sultan

Barys will be looking forward to their flight home to Kazakhstan, but before that they will have to prove themselves against one of the surprise packages of the league. Neftekhimik on their day can mix it with the very best and a playoff berth is not yet out of reach, even if the way there is longer now than in other times. Picking some points of 3rd-placed Barys would actually prove really handy for the second best outfit from Tatarstan.

KAM1172 DME 1200-1330 NBC B733 (07/01/20)

Dinamo Riga vs. Severstal Cherepovets

Severstal is onto an interesting short trip this time, off to the Baltic capitals Riga and Tallinn. They are using "their" new toy once again, flying from Cherepovets to Riga on a Severstal Superjet. Meanwhile Dinamo Riga will probably look to bounce back from last night's heavy defeat at home against the red hot Jokerit as soon as possible.

SSF9604 CEE 1505-1530 RIX SU95 RA-89118 (07/01/20)

KHL 6 January 2020 - Jokerit Helsinki off to Riga

6 January 2020

Dinamo Riga vs. Jokerit Helsinki

Jokerit has started the new year with a bang, inflicting a KHL record defeat of 6-0 onto the great SKA St. Petersburg. Up next is some more Baltic opposition, in Dinamo Riga who are struggling once again towards the bottom of the Western Conference table. Jokerit will take to the air with their usual Finnair Airbus A319:

AY7501 HEL 1500-1600 RIX A319 (05/01/20)

AY7503 RIX 1235-1510 DME A319 (07/01/20)

Avangard Omsk vs. Barys Nur-Sultan

Barys' road trip on the Severstal Superjet takes them to Balashikha, the exile home of Avangard Omsk. This will be the end of the Superjet trip however, as for the next leg to Yaroslavl, an Ural Airlines A320 will be waiting for the team from Kazakhstan.

D2 9627 RIX 2130-0005(+1) DME SU95 (04/01/20)

SVR9499 DME 1855-2000 IAR A320 (05/01/20)

Salavat Yulaev Ufa vs. CSKA Moscow

CSKA will arrive in Ufa on the end of a weird looking road trip. Before the re-alignment of several teams in the league, a combination of Sochi and Ufa would not have happened, but here we go.

YC9721 AER 1100-xxxx UFA A320 (05/01/20)

KHL 29 January 2019

29 January 2019

Sibir Novosibirsk vs. Barys Astana

The closest thing to a derby game for Kazakhstan's finest snow leopards takes them to Novosibirsk. Barys still trust their "own" Boeing 737-300 UP-B3717, though its operator has changed its name a while ago. It may well be legitimate to ask questions of these actions, given that the operator Sunkar Air is for example banned from flying into the European Union.

BBK1650 TSE xxxx-1730 OVB B733 UP-B3717 (28/01/19)
BBK1651 OVB 2330-xxxx TSE B733 UP-B3717 (29/01/19)

Metallurg Magnitogorsk vs. SKA St. Petersburg

The top dogs from St. Petersburg are slowing warming up for the playoffs that are coming closer. After some years of using either Rossiya or Aeroflot for their flights, SKA are now suddenly changing over to Yamal Airlines. Signs of the team falling out of favour with the establishments in Moscow?

YC9789 LED xxxx-xxxx MQF A320 (28/01/19)

Salavat Yulaev Ufa vs. Jokerit Helsinki

While a feisty mid-Eastern road trip may not sound like the most welcome proposition to anyone, it may just be the right thing for Jokerit. Coming off a mixed spell at home in Hartwall Areena, they are off to tick all their Mid East boxes, starting with the duel with the Green Men of Bashkortostan in Ufa:

AY7501 HEL 1400-2000 UFA A319 OH-LVL (28/01/19)
AY7503 UFA 2350-0430(+1) OVB A319 OH-LVL (29/01/19)

Ak Bars Kazan vs. Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg

The team of the season so far is facing the champions of 2017-18 at Tatneft Arena. Avto arrived from Magnitogorsk after a sound beating there, with their form nowhere near as good as early on in the season.

MMM9673 MQF 2130-2045 KZN A320 VQ-BIS (27/01/19)

Note that the A320 VQ-BIS has since been ferried out of Kazan and back in again. This seems to be one particularly busy aircraft, also used by other sports teams from Yekaterinburg.

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk vs. HC Sochi

Both teams are still technically in contention for playoff spots, though Neftekhimik may really only make it if things go badly wrong elsewhere. Sochi are currently on a road trip, that has led them to Tatarstan from Yaroslavl:

IO9432 IAR 1100-xxxx NBC SU95 RA-89075 (28/01/19)

KHL 21 January 2019

21 January 2019

HC Dynamo Moscow vs. Severstal Cherepovets

SSF9582 CEE 1555-1650 SVO CRJ2 (20/01/19)

Jokerit Helsinki vs. Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk

IAE9446 NBC 1530-1630 HEL SU95 RA-89075 (20/01/19)

KHL 17 January 2019

17 January 2019

Amur Khabarovsk vs. Jokerit Helsinki

It is a long and winding road they say, from Khabarovsk in Far-Eastern Russia back home to Helsinki for Jokerit. They got some points on the road, but the away loss at Admiral Vladivostok would have been painful:

AY7505 VVO 2350-0110(+1) KHV A319 OH-LVL (15/01/19)
AY7506 KHV 2350-0210(+1) OVB A319 OH-LVL (17/01/19)
AY7506 OVB 0250-2055 HEL A319 OH-LVL (18/01/19)

KHL 15 January 2019

15 January 2019

Admiral Vladivostok vs. Jokerit Helsinki

The Western No. 3 Jokerit is far away from home for a week, playing three games against the opponents they met very early in the season. After a win in China against Kunlun Red Star, the Jesters are now up against the ever struggling Admiral team:

AY7503 PVG 0100-0615 VVO A319 OH-LVL (14/01/19)
AY7505 VVO 2350-0110(+1) KHV A319 OH-LVL (15/01/19)

Amur Khabarovsk vs. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

Loko is still sitting nicely in the race for play-off home ice and will look to add further points away at the Amur Tigers' rink in Khabarovsk, before heading to Shanghai on the last stage of their Far Eastern road trip:

YC9723 VVO 2220-2320 KHV A320 VP-BCN (13/01/19)
YC9723 KHV 2355-xxxx(+1) PVG A320 VP-BCN (15/01/19)

Kunlun Red Star vs. Severstal Cherepovets

After a stellar 2017-18 season, Severstal has come back to earth. They play their furthest away opponent in Shanghai before heading back across the border again:

4G137 KHV 0040-0215 PVG B737 RA-73000 (14/01/19)

KHL 17 December 2018

17 December 2018

Ak Bars Kazan vs. Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg

The 2017-18 champions face one of the form teams this season in Avto. This game should possibly show the public some direction in which the rest of the season could go for both teams, long before they might possibly be involved in some fierce play-off battles. Avto as usual travel in style, still using the Meridian Airbus A320 that wears the SAAD Group colours.

MMM9671 SVX 1000-1135 KZN A320 VQ-BIS (16/12/18)
MMM9672 KZN 1430-1515 NBC A320 VQ-BIS (18/12/18)

Avangard Omsk vs. Jokerit Helsinki

The Omsk side has been playing really well, despite having to stage most of its home matches in the Moscow suburb of Balashikha, more than 2000kms away from home. Yury Lyapkin Arena has become their own little fortress and Jokerit, on the start of a special road trip with just two matches in the Moscow Oblast, will look to steal some points:

AY7501 HEL 1500-1745 SVO A319 (16/12/18)
AY7502 SVO 2350-0040(+1) HEL A319 (18/12/18)

Kunlun Red Star vs. Amur Khabarovsk

After the national team break, the season will continue with a "regional" trip down to Shanghai:

HZ9484 KHV 2355-xxxx(+1) PVG A319 (15/12/18)

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod vs. Metallurg Magnitogorsk

SVR9050 MQF 1630-1620 GOJ A320 (16/12/18)
SVR9322 GOJ 1720-1835 DME A320 (16/12/18, ferry flt)

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk vs. Traktor Chelyabinsk

IO9511 CEK 1900-xxxx NBC SU95 (16/12/18)

KHL 11 December 2018

11 December 2018

HC Dynamo Moscow vs. Severstal Cherepovets

After what seemed to be a breakout season last year, has turned into the same old thing again for Severstal in 2018-19. They are trailing way behind in the Western Conference standings, along with fellow strugglers Dinamo Minsk and Slovan Bratislava. Dynamo may also have hoped to finish higher in the standings, but they are at least in 8th position with a small reserve ahead of Dinamo Riga.

SSF164D SVO 0030-xxxx CEE CRJ2 (12/12/18)

Jokerit Helsinki vs. Salavat Yulaev Ufa

In a fixture that has been reversed as part of the Avangard Omsk arena saga, Jokerit will play host to the green men from Ufa on the penultimate day of action before the national team will assemble for the second time this season. Jokerit came back from a road trip with mixed results recently, which included a harsh loss at Spartak in Mytishchi and two very valuable wins away in the Russian North-West, at Lokomotiv and Severstal. Ufa on their hand are struggling this season, though so far the play-off does not seem to be in danger. They may have to settle with facing their fierce rivals Ak Bars or Avangard at an earlier stage than usual however.

SVR3385 DME 2330-0000(+1) HEL A320 VP-BIE (09/12/18)
SVR3386 HEL 0100-0330(+1) DME A320 VP-BIE (10/12/18, ferry flt)
SVR3384 HEL 2300-xxxx(+1) UFA A320 (11/12/18)

KHL 14 September 2018

14 September 2018

Vityaz Podolsk vs. Jokerit Helsinki

AY7505 LED 2350-xxxx(+1) SVO A319 (12/09/18)

AY7506 SVO 2130-xxxx HEL A319 (14/09/18)

Salavat Yulaev Ufa vs. Ak Bars Kazan

YC9725 DME 2330-0120(+1) UFA A320 (12/09/18)

Sibir Novosibirsk vs. Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk

4G138 OVB 2300-xxxx UFA SU95 (14/09/18)

Barys Astana vs. Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod

YC9623 UFA xxxx-0310 TSE A320 (13/09/18)

YC9624 TSE 0000-xxxx OVB A320 (15/09/18)

SKA St. Petersburg vs. Spartak Moscow

YC9792 LED 2330-xxxx DME A320 (14/09/18)

Dinamo Minsk vs. HC Sochi

YC9621 DME xxxx-0010 MSQ (13/09/18)

YC9622 MSQ 2300-0110(+1) AER (14/09/18)

KHL 12 September 2018

12 September 2018

SKA St. Petersburg vs. Jokerit Helsinki

Unbeaten Jokerit arrived in St. Petersburg for what looks like their first proper test of the season - and that off the back of four wins in the first four matches of the new season. SKA in the meantime have had a mixed start to the season, but with a derby against Jokerit up next, they will surely have enough motivation. Their most recent encounter in the pre-season was feisty enough to say the least.

AY7503 MSQ 2350-0115(+1) LED A319 OH-LVL (10/09/18)

AY7505 LED 2350-0115(+1) SVO A319 OH-LVL (12/09/18)

Avangard Omsk vs. Ak Bars Kazan

It is becoming a repetitive theme already, but Balashikha is becoming the new Omsk this season, so Ak Bars have had to travel to the West for this one match before heading East again, to face Salavat Yulaev on 14 September:

YC9726 KZN 1100-1320 DME A320 (11/09/18)

YC9725 DME 2330-0120(+1) UFA A320 (12/09/18)

Barys Astana vs. Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk

Last season's suprise package from the Eastern Conference has had a tricky start to the new season, but also Barys is currently still on a negative record. One team will get it right in Astana, but the way things ran so far, one would expect this to be the hosts:

GZP137 VKO 2300-0210(+1) TSE SU95 (10/09/18)

KHL 10 September 2018

10 September 2018

Dinamo Minsk vs. Jokerit Helsinki

After three home matches and as many victories, Jokerit now take their show onto the road, off to Minsk first, before they head for their "derby" away at SKA St. Petersburg:

AY7501 HEL 1500-1615 MSQ A319 OH-LVL (09/09/18)

AY7503 MSQ 2350-0115(+1) LED A319 OH-LVL (10/09/18)

Avangard Omsk vs. Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk

It's Balashikha instead of Omsk Arena for Avangard this season, but this does not seem to hamper performances so far. In terms of travel, this now means for oppositions that they may have to take a one-off trip from the Middle East to Moscow. The journey will go on to Astana after that, which obviously would have been a lot closer from Omsk:

GZP138 NBC 1030-1200 VKO SU95 (09/09/18)

GZP137 VKO 2300-0210(+1) TSE SU95 (10/09/18)

SKA St. Petersburg vs. HC Sochi

The league giants from St. Petersburg are looking for a bit more luck after two rather surprising defeats early on this season. They are hosting HC Sochi, which has just embarked on its first road trip of this season which will take them to St. Petersburg, Podolsk and Minsk:

YC9422 AER 1512-1735 LED SU95 (10/09/18)

KHL 5 September 2018

5 September 2018

Jokerit Helsinki vs. Amur Khabarovsk

Having scored as many goals as rarely ever in matches in recent seasons, Jokerit are waiting get into the act with Amur with a smile on their faces. Amur for their part, have lost their first game on the Western road trip away at Spartak Moscow, so they will be keen to make up for this:

5N9309 SVO 1230-1435 HEL B735 (04/09/18)

5N9310 HEL 1100-1445 AER B735 (06/09/18)

5N9120 AER 1600-1830 DME B735 (06/09/18, ferry flt)

HC Sochi vs. Kunlun Red Star

A loss in their season opener means that both teams are still desperate to get going this term. Sochi at least got to grab one point for a shootout loss against Admiral, but the Bolshoi faithful would surely have hoped for more against the opposition from the Far East. Kunlun had a bright start against Jokerit, but was pegged back during a second and third periods, where the Chinese could not quite close the floodgates against an inspired Jokerit:

SVR3224 HEL 0025-0355 AER A320 (04/09/18)

SVR9422 AER 2335-0150(+1) DME A319 (05/09/18)

Ak Bars Kazan vs. Vityaz Podolsk

The jury is probably still out on Ak Bars, following a humiliating loss against championship favourites SKA and a laboured 2-0 win over Dinamo Minsk in the second match of the season. Vityaz meanwhile had to survive an even tighter match, winning by the smallest of small margins away at Neftekhimik, 1-0 thanks to a goal from Nikita Komarov very early in the third period:

YC9427 NBC xxxx-xxxx KZN SU95 (03/09/18)

YC9427 KZN 2300-2350 GOJ SU95 (05/09/18)

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk vs. Barys Astana

The Kazakh team once again flies from game to game with Sunkar Air and one of their old Boeing 737-300s:

KAM 1170 TSE 1600-1500 NBC B733 UP-B3717 (04/09/18)

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod vs. Dinamo Minsk

A consequence of Torpedo's shift back to the Eastern Conference can be seen in the layout of the road trips for the visitors already. The Minsk team will travel significantly further East after the game at Nagorny:

BRU8741 KZN 0001-0040 GOJ B735 EW-250PA (04/09/18)
BRU8741 GOJ 2330-0030(+1) NBC B735 EW-250PA (05/09/18)

KHL 3 September 2018

3 September 2018

Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod vs. SKA St. Petersburg

Arriving from what promises to be a feisty start into the season in Tatarstan, SKA travels to the next "hell house", Nagorny Arena in Niznny Novgorod. From there, the journey will take the army men back home after a rather unusually short two-game road trip to start off the season in Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod. 

FV4201 VKO 1930-2030 KZN A319 (01/09/18, ferry flt)

FV4202 KZN 2130-2215 GOJ A319 (01/09/18)

FV4202 GOJ 2330-0125(+1) LED A319 (03/09/18)

By Anna Zvereva from Tallinn, Estonia (Rossiya (Sports Livery), VQ-BCP, Airbus A319-111) [CC BY-SA 2.0  (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

HC Sochi vs. Admiral Vladivostok

Having spent most of the pre-season out in the West, Admiral also kicks off regular season proceedings fairly far west, playing the first match on the shores of the Black Sea in Sochi's Bolshoi Ice Dome:

SVR9421 DME 1935-2200 AER A320 (03/09/18, ferry flt)

SVR9422 AER 2335-0150(+1) DME A320 (03/09/18)

Jokerit Helsinki vs. Kunlun Red Star

After a pre-season tournament in St. Petersburg, Kunlun travels to Helsinki straight away, without even returning to China. In fact, since assembling the squad in Riga, Latvia in July, Kunlun will stay on the road for some time until returning to its origin country in September:

SVR3224 HEL 0125-0355 AER A320 (04/09/18)

More about the Kunlun pre-season activities here:

http://hcredstar.ru/en/news/zdravstvuy-riga-druzhnoy-kompaniey-nachinaem-kampaniyu/

Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk vs. Vityaz Podolsk

Yamal Airlines' newly expanded fleet of Sukhoi Superjets will see considerable amounts of KHL flying this season. Vityaz Podolsk from the outskirts of Moscow is one of the teams to use them, in turn also changing its "home" airport from Vnukovo to nearby Domodedovo:

YC9427 DME 1500-1700 NBC SU95 (02/09/18)
YC9427 NBC xxxx-xxxx KZN SU95 (03/09/18)

Ak Bars Kazan vs. Dinamo Minsk

The KHL's belarussian representation is starting the new season on the road, away in Tatarstan against 2018 champions Ak Bars Kazan. Together with Opening Cup opponents SKA St. Petersburg, Ak Bars will become one of the first teams to have played two matches in the new season. Just like SKA, Dinamo will then travel on to Nizhny Novgorod, where Torpedo has been shifted from the Western to the Eastern Conference.

BRU8741 MSQ 1530-1730 KZN B735 (02/09/18)
BRU8741 KZN 2300-2350 GOJ B735 (03/09/18)