MOSCOW - The Kontinental Hockey League has cut a Russian team as it tries to fix worsening financial problems, including debts to league players of over $17 million.
KHL president Dmitry Chernyshenko says the league is removing the Metallurg Novokuznetsk team, which had a 14-46 record and small crowds this season, as it bids to become leaner and more commercially successful.
Croatian team Medvescak Zagreb said in March it would withdraw to join the Austrian-based EBEL league.
Chernyshenko says the KHL - widely considered the world's strongest league outside the NHL - has been hit by ''unprecedented'' wage delays to players totaling over 1 billion rubles ($17.7 million).
Seven of the KHL's 29 teams are ''regularly'' late with salaries and some players have been waiting over six months for payment, he adds.