# 2025 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs

The 2025 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs or the 2025 Auroraliiga playoffs (Finnish: Auroraliigan pudotuspelit 2025) is the playoff tournament for the 2024–25 season of the Auroraliiga. The tournament began on 22 February and the Aurora Borealis Cup will be awarded no later than 30 March.
Winners of the 2024 Naisten Liiga playoffs, IFK Helsinki were the defending Aurora Borealis Cup champions until being eliminated in the 2025 quarterfinals.
Entering the playoffs, Kiekko-Espoo were the favorites for the 2025 Aurora Borealis Cup.

## Season reviews
### Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Kiekko-Espoo | 32 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 168 | 56 | +112 | 84 |
| 2 | HPK | 32 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 133 | 71 | +62 | 71 |
| 3 | Team Kuortane | 32 | 19 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 115 | 67 | +48 | 65 |
| 4 | IFK Helsinki | 32 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 113 | 81 | +32 | 64 |
| 5 | Tampereen Ilves | 32 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 118 | 99 | +19 | 53 |
| 6 | KalPa | 32 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 81 | 87 | −6 | 40 |
| 7 | TPS | 32 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 66 | 99 | −33 | 36 |
| 8 | Oulun Kärpät | 32 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 48 | 128 | −80 | 15 |
| 9 | RoKi | 32 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 46 | 200 | −154 | 4 |

### Kiekko-Espoo

Finishing thirteen points ahead of the competition, Kiekko-Espoo claimed the regular season title for the second consecutive season. Three of the season's top-five scorers were Kiekko-Espoo players, including the overall league points leader, Emma Nuutinen (27 goals+38 assists=65 points); the league's top goal scorer, Lisette Täks (30+25); and the league's top-scoring defenseman, Minttu Tuominen (14+35).

### HPK

HPK ended the regular season ranked second in the league – the team's best finish since the 2010–11 season in which they won the Aurora Borealis Cup.

### Team Kuortane

Team Kuortane achieved the best regular season finish in team history after overtaking HIFK and clinching the third seed on the last day of the regular season. The team was buoyed by aggressive offense, one of the league’s strongest blue lines, and goaltending that displayed flashes of brilliance.

### HIFK

Defending Aurora Borealis Cup champions IFK Helsinki saw an unusually high number of players leave the team following the 2024 Finnish Championship, with nine significant players not returning for the 2024–25 season. Departures ahead of the 2024–25 season included Michaela Pejzlová, Sanni Vanhanen, Julia Liikala, and Clara Rozier, four of the top-five point scorers in the league during the previous season; Kiia Lahtinen, the league's 2023–24 best goaltender by save percentage; Siiri Yrjölä, the team's 2023–24 top-scoring defenseman; and team captain Karoliina Rantamäki. HIFK's slide from second in the standings in 2023–24 to fourth in 2024–25 can be broadly attributed to the changes in roster composition.
Notable off-season signings included forwards Emma Lappalainen and Iida Lappalainen from RoKi and goaltender Tea Koljonen from Kiekko-Espoo, however, HIFK opted to fill most of the vacancies with young players from its own development system. The influx of youth players pushed the team's average age from 21 years, which had held steady across both of the previous seasons, to 19.7 years in 2024–25.
Across the 32 game season, HIFK recorded twenty wins and nine losses in regulation time and an additional win and two losses in overtime for 64 totals points. They scored 113 goals on the season, a total of 62 fewer goals than in 2023–24. Twenty year old center Pauliina Salonen narrowly led HIFK's scoring and placed ninth on the league scoring chart, with sixteen goals and eighteen assists for 34 points. Her linemates both notched 33 points, with Anni Pere (16 goals + 17 assists) ranking tenth in league scoring and Emmi Juusela (7+26) ranking thirteenth. Twelve players recorded ten or more points for HIFK on the season, with notable contributions from veteran forward Johanna Kemppainen (9+11=20) and the team's top-scoring defensemen, eighteen year old Heidi Holmberg (7+13=20) and newly-appointed captain Athéna Locatelli (4+13=17).
With the departure of Lahtinen, netminder Miia Vainio was promoted from backup to starter and the twenty year old struggled with the increased workload. She recorded a decent but unremarkable save percentage of 90.1 and similarly middling goals against average of 2.51 across 23 appearances, which respectively ranked eighth and seventh of all goaltenders playing at least one-third of their team's minutes. Eighteen year old backup Nelli Nieminen was the league's top netminder of those playing less than one-third of their team's minutes, achieving a solid 91.5 save percentage and respectable 1.67 goals against average across six outings.

## Bracket

    As of 12 March 2025
| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 | Kiekko-Espoo | 5 | 7 | 4 | – | – | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Kärpät Oulu | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Kärpät Oulu | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 0 | Kiekko-Espoo | Kiekko-Espoo | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | – | – | – | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | Ilves Tampere | Ilves Tampere | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | 0 | | | |
| 4 | IFK Helsinki | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | Ilves Tampere | Ilves Tampere | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | 0 | | | |
| 5 | Ilves Tampere | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Ilves Tampere | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | Kiekko-Espoo | Kiekko-Espoo | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | HPK Hämeenlinna | HPK Hämeenlinna | |
| 2 | HPK Hämeenlinna | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | – | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | HPK Hämeenlinna | HPK Hämeenlinna |
| 7 | TPS Turku | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | TPS Turku | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | HPK Hämeenlinna | HPK Hämeenlinna | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 4 | Bronze medal game | Bronze medal game | Bronze medal game |
| | | | | | | | | Team Kuortane | Team Kuortane | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| 3 | Team Kuortane | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | – | 3 | Team Kuortane | Team Kuortane | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 | Ilves Tampere | Ilves Tampere | |
| 6 | KalPa Kuopio | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | Team Kuortane | Team Kuortane | |

## Quarterfinals

The best-of-five quarterfinals (Finnish: puolivälierät) began on Saturday, 22 February and concluded on Sunday, 2 March. The top eight teams from the regular season qualified for the quarterfinal round.
Each series alternated venue on a per-game basis, with home ice advantage granted to the higher seeded team for the first, third, and potential fifth game. Due to the substantial distance between Kiekko-Espoo and Kärpät's homes, the teams were scheduled to play back-to-back games at each venue rather than alternating on a per-game basis. Kiekko-Espoo was be granted home ice advantge for the first, second, and potential fifth game.
All times local, Eastern European Time (UTC+2)

### (1) K-Espoo vs. (8) Kärpät

Abbreviations: PP1 = Power play goal (+1 advantage); PP2 = Power play goal (+2 advantage); SH1 = Short handed goal (–1 advantage)

### (2) HPK vs. (7) TPS

Abbreviations: PP1 = Power play goal (+1 advantage); PP2 = Power play goal (+2 advantage); SH1 = Short handed goal (–1 advantage); EN = Empty net goal

### (3) Kuortane vs. (6) KalPa

Abbreviations: PP1 = Power play goal (+1 advantage); EN = Empty net goal; DP = Delayed penalty

### (4) HIFK vs. (5) Ilves

Abbreviations: PP1 = Power play goal (+1 advantage); EN = Empty net goal; DP = Delayed penalty

## Semifinals

The best-of-seven semifinals (Finnish: välierät) began on Tuesday, 4 March and concluded on Wednesday, 12 March.
All times local, Eastern European Time (UTC+2)

### K-Espoo vs Ilves

Abbreviations: PP1 = Power play goal (+1 advantage); EN = Empty net goal

### HPK vs Kuortane

Abbreviations: PP1 = Power play goal (+1 advantage); EN = Empty net goal; EA = Extra attacker

## Bronze medal game

The Finnish Championship bronze medal game (Finnish: pronssiottelu) will be played on Saturday, 22 March 2025.
Game time local, Eastern European Time (UTC+2)

## Finals

The best-of-seven Finnish Championship finals (Finnish: Suomen mestaruus finaalit or SM-finaalit), also called the grand finale (Finnish: loppuottelut), will begin on Tuesday, 18 March. The Aurora Borealis Cup will be awarded no later than Sunday, 30 March.
All times local, Eastern European Time (UTC+2)

## Player statistics
### Scoring leaders

The following players led the league in playoff points at the conclusion of games played on 12 March 2025.
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Emma Nuutinen | K-Espoo | 7 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 6 |
| Kiti Seikkula | HPK | 8 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 6 |
| Karoliina Rantamäki | K-Espoo | 7 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 0 |
| Minttu Tuominen | K-Espoo | 7 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 4 |
| Lisette Täks | K-Espoo | 7 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 10 |
| Ines Lukkarila | HPK | 9 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| Emma Ekoluoma | Ilves | 9 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| Matilda Nilsson | Ilves | 9 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| Mikaela Saukkonen | HPK | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| Ella Välikangas | HPK | 9 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Barbora Juříčková | HPK | 9 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

The following goaltenders had played at least sixty playoff minutes in net at the conclusion of the games played on 12 March 2025, sorted by save percentage.
| ^ | Team eliminated in quarterfinals |
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | W | L | SA | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
| Tiia Pajarinen | K-Espoo | 5 | 300:00 | 5 | 0 | 143 | 5 | 2 | 96.5 | 1.00 |
| Anni Keisala | HPK | 9 | 550:03 | 7 | 2 | 223 | 11 | 3 | 95.1 | 1.20 |
| Tiina Ranne^ | TPS | 4 | 234:27 | 1 | 3 | 153 | 9 | 0 | 94.1 | 2.30 |
| Kerttu Kuja-Halkola | Kuortane | 6 | 371:33 | 3 | 3 | 118 | 8 | 1 | 93.2 | 1.29 |
| Miia Vainio^ | HIFK | 5 | 296:50 | 1 | 3 | 157 | 12 | 1 | 92.4 | 2.43 |
| Salla Sivula^ | KalPa | 4 | 238:58 | 1 | 3 | 129 | 10 | 0 | 92.2 | 2.51 |
| Melisa Mörönen | Ilves | 9 | 539:48 | 3 | 5 | 247 | 21 | 0 | 91.5 | 2.33 |
| Minja Drufva | K-Espoo | 2 | 120:00 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 3 | 0 | 91.4 | 1.50 |
| Lilia Huovinen | Kuortane | 3 | 178:42 | 1 | 2 | 61 | 6 | 1 | 90.2 | 2.01 |
| Kati Asikainen^ | Kärpät | 3 | 180:00 | 0 | 3 | 117 | 16 | 0 | 86.3 | 5.33 |