Expansion to Slovakia With the admission of Lev Poprad from Poprad , Slovakia the league expanded beyond the borders of the former Soviet Union . This brought the number of teams to 24 . However , following a plane crash that claimed the lives of the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl squad , Lokomotiv withdrew from the season , leaving only 23 teams as in the previous season
plane crash
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash
2011–12 KHL season