The KHL's Bobrov Division was formed in 2008 as part of the league's inauguration and is part of the Western conference since the second season of KHL when the conferences were established. It is one of 4 divisions. It is named in honor of Vsevolod Bobrov; storied ice hockey gold medalist for the Soviet Union and former CSKA and VVS player.
The Bobrov Division is currently made up of the following teams:
In the first KHL season, the division alignment was determined by team strength and the Bobrov division consisted of: Salavat Yulaev Ufa, Atlant Moscow Oblast, HC Dinamo Minsk, Metallurg Novokuznetsk, Severstal Cherepovets and Spartak Moscow.
With the geographical alignment of the divisions for the 2009âÂÂ10 season, the composition of the Bobrov division was completely changed. Only Spartak Moscow and Dinamo Minsk remained in the division. They were joined by the two other teams from Moscow, CSKA Moscow and Dynamo Moscow, as well as SKA Saint Petersburg and Dinamo Riga. Thus, the division was made up of the most westerly teams of the KHL.
In 2010, Dynamo Moscow merged with HC MVD (from the Tarasov Division). The new team, UHC Dynamo, took the place of the old Dynamo in this division. Dinamo Minsk left for the Tarasov Division and was replaced by HC Lev Poprad in this division. However, later Lev was excluded from the league and the Bobrov Division became the first division in the history of the KHL to have the number of teams at 5 instead of 6.
In 2011, the KHL expanded for the first time beyond the borders of the post-Soviet states by admitting HC Lev Poprad, a newly formed team that is based in Poprad, Slovakia.
The expansion to 26 teams for the 2012âÂÂ13 season caused some re-alignments among the Western conference divisions. The two newcomers Slovan Bratislava from Slovakia and HC Donbass from Ukraine were added to the Bobrov division. In the meantime, two Moscow teams, Spartak and CSKA were moved to the Tarasov Division, while Vityaz Chekhov moved to Bobrov. HC Lev Poprad was dissolved and replaced by a new organization, Lev Praha from Prague, Czech Republic. This brought the number of teams in the Bobrov division to 7, representing 5 different countries.
The expansion to 28 teams for the 2013âÂÂ14 season caused some re-alignments among the Western conference divisions; as such, Croatian newcomer KHL Medveà ¡ÃÂak Zagreb were added to the Borbov division, while HC Vityaz, HC Donbass and Dynamo Moscow were moved to the Tarasov Division and replaced by Dinamo Minsk and CSKA Moscow.
Lev Praha had to withdraw prior to the 2014âÂÂ15 season for financial reasons, whereas Jokerit from Helsinki, Finland joined. Furthermore, CSKA Moscow and Atlant Moscow Oblast also joined.
Spartak Moscow returned to the KHL for the 2015âÂÂ16 season, while Atlant Moscow Oblast left the league.
KHL Medveà ¡ÃÂak Zagreb left the KHL and returned to EBEL for the 2017âÂÂ18 season.
Dynamo Moscow and Severstal Cherepovets joining, both Slovan Bratislava and Dinamo Minsk swapped divisions to Tarasov Division.
Sochi and Vityaz Podolsk joining Bobrov division, but Dinamo Riga and Dynamo Moscow swapped divisions to Tarasov Division.
Severstal Cherepovets leaving Bobrov Division and joining Tarasov Division