The Kontinental Hockey League's (KHL) Tarasov Division was formed in 2008 as part of the league's inauguration. It is one of four divisions and part of the Western Conference since the second season of the KHL when the conferences were established. It is named in honor of Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Anatoli Tarasov, "the father of Russian hockey", who established the Soviet Union as "the dominant force in international competition".[1]
Division lineup
The Tarasov Division currently consists of the following teams:
First, HC Budivelnyk from Kyiv, Ukraine were admitted to the league in 2010 to replace HC MVD after their merger with Dynamo Moscow. However, the team later dropped out of the league before the start of the season and instead Dinamo Minsk joined the division from the Bobrov Division.
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl suspension (2011)
Because of the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash that killed nearly the entire roster of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, the team management decided to suspend operations for the 2011–12 season, temporarily reducing the Tarasov division to five teams. Lokomotiv returned for the 2012–13 season.
2012 Expansion
With the addition of two new teams to the Bobrov Division for the 2012–13 season, some re-alignments among the Western conference divisions became necessary: Vityaz Chekhov were moved to Bobrov, while two Moscow teams, Spartak and CSKA were moved to Tarasov. This increased the Tarasov division to seven teams.
