Two vacancies left

03 Feb 2014 | Alan Ilijic

The Olympic break in the KHL has commenced. The players called for the Olympics' rosters will depart to join their national teams and head to Sochi afterwards, the rest will stay with their clubs and continue to practice. More or less everything is clear, but the final two spots for the playoffs.

Each conference has still one spot open for the playoffs. The two last tickets are up for grabs, and everyone wants it. Some have more chances, the others can hope. They haven't been officially eliminated from the playoffs run, but their chances are, well, virtual.

Only four teams played 51 games so far, and all of them are from the East. Every team in the West played exactly 50 games. But the first seven seeds have been decided.

Western Conference

Dynamo Moscow and SKA have been atop the Western division the whole season, from day one onwards, so they were the first teams to punch the playoff tickets. There is nothing special to be said about them, everything is more or less known. Dynamo showed some incertainty lately, losing two of their final three games, all of them to non-Russian teams, but they still have the leading role, with SKA following right after.

Donbass, Lev, Dinamo Riga, Medvescak and CSKA also bought their tickets. Well, they more deserved it, to be honest. Four non-Russian teams will head to the playoffs this season in the Western conference. They could have five, but it's unrealistic to expect Slovan to qualify. Slovan are currently 11th, trailing 7 points from the playoff range. They would need to win at least three games to be sure, while Lokomotiv would have to lose them all. Atlant is 4 points ahead, so they would need them to lose as well.

Atlant or Severstal could make it, but they will also need Lokomotiv to fall somewhere. Loko has 3 points over Atlant and 4 over Severstal, all of them with 4 games before the end.

While most of the teams are expectedly in, there are two that, well, came as a surprise. We'll kick off with Dinamo Riga. After having finished dead last the season before, they knew it was time to make a change in the Latvian capital. Players like Sandis Ozolins, Mat Robinson, Marcel Hossa, Kyle Wilson, Martins Cipulis and others, who now lead the team to their standings position, were brought in. A big cut was made, new places showed up, Arturs Abols had time to prepare and set the team on the winning track. He was, evidently, successful. Dinamo were among top-three of their Conference for a long time, now they're 5th, but after last season's fiasco, they have to be rubbing their hands.

The other big surprise is, of course, the League's newcomers - Medvescak Zagreb. After playing in the Austrian League for the past 4 season, the KHL president saw great potential in this small organization. It used to be small, but after they began to resurrect four years ago, they've been constantly growing, without showing intentions to stop. It may come as a surprise to some, to others it could be quite the opposite. The teams that was given the nickname "KHL's first North American team" due to the fact their roster is composed of mainly North American players from the AHL showed teeth in their first clash - crushing CSKA 7:1 in Zagreb. Alexander Medvedev said he had been a little worried about taking such a small club to the KHL, but was utterly delighted when the season kicked-off. And the Croats showed it was the right choice.

Who will be the final one to go to the playoffs: Lokomotiv, Atlant Severstal or Slovan? We'd pick Lokomotiv or Atlant, but we'll have to wait until after the Olympics to find that out.

Eastern Conference

In the East, the situation is more or less the same. Technically there are four teams chasing the final spot, though Yugra isn't really prone to make a break. Traktor hold to their eighth spot, but not only is it not firm, it's very loose. They have the edge over Admiral by only two points, which will force them to win their last four games. Admiral have been doing well throughout the season, even after they lost their head coach Hannu Jortikka and their captain, and arguably one of the best forwards, Enver Lisin, who departed for CSKA Moscow. There weren't a lot of people believing in them, but the Far Eastern team showed heart, will and commitment. They've won only two of their last six games, but if they manage to continue to rise, they could reach the playoffs in their debutant season.

Before the season started, Avangard looked like a powerhouse. Bringing in Teemu Lassila in net, Miroslav Blatak and Denish Kulyash to strenghten up the defense and Sergei Kostitsyn, Oleg Kvasha and Andrei Mezin among others, they were trying to make a point. A point saying: "We want the Cup this year!" Everyone in Omsk had huge expectations of them, but in the end they turned out lame. They're still in the hunt, but judging from their last games (3 consecutive losses), they're moving away from it. And they have to play SKA, Atlant, Lokomotiv and Severstal in the final four games, all of the teams seeking a playoffs spot.

Probably their biggest problem was in that some of the best players left the team, and they did it pretty early. Lassila was on the way out as early as October, Zaborsky, Frolov, Yegorshev, Kvasha and Tkachyov followed, and then on New Year's Day, Mathieu Garon decided it was time to move on. Milos Riha, the Czech specialist, tried to pull some strings together and salvage the team, so that could be their upside looking to clinch the playoff berth.

As was previously mentioned, Yugra is unreal to make the playoffs. They have four players on injury reserve, one of theim being the captain, Mikhail Yakubov and one of their top four defensemen Alexei Pepelyayev. Despite them being on a good run, they have to play all the teams Avangard will play, which could determine their destinies, and those days will be hectic for all those trying to get to the playoffs. Just don't forget, Traktor is there as well, and they sure want to have their word in these clashes.

A hectic schedule ahead of us after the Olympic break, and eight teams desperately fighting for the final two spots leading them to where they all want to be. After all, it's what they've played for the whole season. And, they're all within 10 points from each other.