KHL Playoffs: Best Players of the Semifinals

The KHL conference semi-finals have concluded and we’re off to determine the two teams that will meet each other at the Gagarin Cup Final. However, on the road there – the league has determined and announced the best players for the second round of the playoffs.

The best goalie was Magnus Hellberg (SKA), who won four games of four, including two shutouts. Hellberg faced 111 shots, or 27.8 per night, posting a saves percentage of 97.3% and a goals-against-average of 0.74. Hellberg was the fourth SKA netminder to be awarded Best goalie honors in a playoff round after Jakub Stepanek, Mikko Koskinen (four times), and Igor Shestyorkin.

The best defenseman was Ville Pokka (Avangard), who scored 2 (0+2) points with a plus-4 rating. The Finn D-man logged an average of 23 minutes and 12 seconds of time on ice, with 12 shots on goal and 28 blocked shots (leading the playoffs). Pokka was the Hawks’ fifth defenseman to be awarded Best defenseman honors in a playoff round after Yuri Alexandrov, Michal Kempny, Jonas Ahnelov, and Maxim Chudinov.

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The best forward was Konstantin Okulov (CSKA), who scored 7 (4+3) points in the seven-game series against Lokomotiv, posting a plus-3 rating. The Red Army forward also had 16 shots on goal and recorded three hits. Okulov was the fourth CSKA forward to be awarded Best forward honors in a playoff round after Igor Grigorenko, Alexander Radulov, and Mikhail Grigorenko.

The best rookie was forward Yegor Chinakhov (Avangard), who scored 4 (4+0) points in the six-game series against Metallurg, posting a plus-2 rating. The forward logged an average time on ice of 14 minutes and 49 seconds, recorded six hits, blocked two shots from the opposition, and netted the game-winner in game-6.