The Kontinental Hockey League regular season has been impacted by COVID-19 outbreaks and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics ©KHL

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) leadership has proposed using a points-per-game percentage to determine rankings rather than completing the regular season, in light of COVID-19 disruption and the decision not to play matches during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

The regular season is due to conclude on March 1, but the league has suffered escalating problems with outbreaks of the virus since the turn of the year.

More than 50 KHL matches have been postponed and there has been no action since January 14.

This is due to a week-long break last month imposed from January 15 to 21 amid a rise in COVID-19 cases among clubs, which has been followed by the regular season's pause for Beijing 2022.

Fixtures are set to resume on February 22, after plans to stage rearranged games during the Winter Olympics were shelved.

Russian state news agency TASS, citing a Channel One broadcast, revealed that the KHL has proposed "not to finish the regular season", subject to approval from the Board of Directors and the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia.

The eight teams from each conference who advance to the Gagarin Cup Playoffs would be determined by their points percentage from games played.

The Kontinental Hockey League's break for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics followed a week-long pause due to COVID-19 outbreaks last month ©Getty Images
The Kontinental Hockey League's break for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics followed a week-long pause due to COVID-19 outbreaks last month ©Getty Images

The move is designed to prevent further COVID-19 infections, with the absence of leading players for Beijing 2022 also a factor.

The KHL is providing many of the players for the men's tournament in the Chinese capital, a situation exacerbated by the decision of North America's National Hockey League (NHL) to prevent players from being released for the Games.

Men's ice hockey at Beijing 2022 is due to run until February 20.

KHL President Alexei Morozov explained that allowing players to compete at the Winter Olympics was paramount.

"The KHL tried to do everything possible so that the players playing for 10 national teams, and these are 120 people from 22 league clubs, could take part in the most important event for each athlete and adequately represent their country," Morozov said, quoted by TASS.

"The structure of the KHL season initially took into account the need for a pause due to holding the Olympic Games, it was important for us to preserve the health of the players, given the high risk of the spread of coronavirus."

Teams usually play 56 games during the regular season, with eight of the 12 teams in the Western and Eastern Conferences advancing to the playoffs.