KHL announces restructuring of playoffs; refuses to cancel

The Kontinental Hockey League is dead-set on finishing its playoffs, despite concerns over COVID-19 and the fact that two teams have withdrawn from the tournament. A couple of days ago, Jokerit, based in Finland, announced it would be removing itself from the KHL playoffs despite making it through to the second round. Earlier today, Barys, which is based in Kazakhstan, also announced it would be withdrawing from the tournament. These were the only two team left out of eight that were not based in Russia. Many believed this would lead to the cancellation of the playoffs for the KHL. They were wrong. 

Rather than cancel, the league has announced it will be shutting down for a week and will then resume the playoffs with the six Russian teams that are left. It is interesting to note that the release from the KHL made absolutely no mention of COVID-19 or any concerns surrounding it. The conference semi-finals had been initially scheduled to resume tomorrow. 

The KHL played the first round of the playoffs without any spectators in the stands. It was a best three-of-five format. So far, there's no exact word on how it will determine which of the three remaining teams will get an automatic bye to the finals after the next round. The final six teams remaining are CSKA, Ak Bars, SKA, Dynamo Moscow, Sibir and Salavat Yulaev. 

Finnish journalist Pekka Jalonen recently blasted the KHL for being the last European league standing, saying "ss great as hockey is in the KHL, a few real donkeys are in control of the league."