KHL newcomer Donbass Donetsk is hosting a preseason tournament ahead of its first term in the Eastern European hockey league, its website reported Wednesday.
Donbass has invited fellow newbie Lev Prague, Gagarin Cup semifinalists SKA St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg team Avtomobilist and Severstal Cherepovets for the Donbass Open Cup in late August.
Reigning champion SKA plays the first match August 27 against Severstal, with the hosts facing Avtomobilist.
KHL president Alexander Medvedev announced in April that the eastertn Ukrainians would be admitted for the 2012-13 season despite their 5,000-capacity arena requiring a doubling in size to fall in line with league requirements.
Medvedev said Donbass would play "as an exception."
On Tuesday, another new addition, Slovan Bratislava, was cleared to hold home games at the Slovnaft Arena in the city after the venue passed a KHL inspection.
