KHL reports its first COVID-19 death.

The National Hockey League has done an excellent job of isolating their players and personnel from the ongoing global pandemic, but unfortunately despite the best efforts of the Kontinental Hockey League they have now suffered their first COVID-19 related death. Although the Kontinental Hockey League has yet to officially confirm the news, we have learned that Konstantin Isakov is believed to have died as a direct result of the deadly virus. 

The news was first made public on this side of the pond by Jokke Nevalainen of Dobber Prospects who cites a report out of Finald reporting that Isakov has indeed passed away. The news will no doubt come as a huge shock to fans of HK Sochi where Isakov was the Director of Hockey Administration but it does have to be said that Isakov was in a more vulnerable group than the players themselves. Despite some having pre-existing conditions that make them more vulnerable players are generally younger and in great shape which does provide some relative protection from the virus, but Isakov was no longer a player himself and was considerably older than a player would be at 53 years of age. 

Despite not progressing forward with a plan similar to the one the National Hockey League has implemented with their protective bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto, the KHL appears dead set on kicking off their season in just a few short weeks from now. I do have to wonder though if the sudden death of a key piece of one team's personnel will result in the KHL changing its plans or if the season will simply move forward despite the fact that Konstantin Isakov has passed away as a result of the pandemic.