Here it is. A clash of titans. The best team in the Sawchuk, the Adirondack Aces, will face the top seed in the Plante, the El Dorado Lynx, for the 2025 Atkinson Cup.

It’s a rematch of the 2023 final, which saw the Aces beat the Lynx in 6 for their second straight title. Now, the Aces look to return to championship glory.

(1) Adirondack Aces (59-14-9) vs. (1) El Dorado Lynx (50-19-13)

Head-to-head record: EDH won 2-0-0
Top regular season scorers:
ADI: Kreider (82, 61-57-118), Kaprizov (75, 43-70-113), Karlsson (70, 41-58-99), Hintz (80, 36-61-97)
EDH: O’Reilly (82, 31-54-85), Nylander (82, 35-49-84), Keller (77, 46-30-76), Kempe (77, 25-46-71)
Regular season goaltenders:
ADI: Varlamov (27, 2.80, .921), Tarasov (22, 2.85, .908), DeSmith (17, 3.45, .890), Soderblom (16, 3.26, .880)
EDH: Bobrovsky (58, 2.90, .909), Quick (24, 3.05, .905)

What is there left to say? Each team won their conference during the regular season, but Adirondack ended with 9 more wins and for good reason: they have a clear offensive advantage here, despite El Dorado boasting wonderful forward depth. The Aces had the best powerplay (although the Lynx’s PK was better), and while their goals against during the season were close, the Aces scored way more goals, averaging 5.3/game. They also have higher-impact defensemen, as demonstrated by Zach Werenski’s clutch OT winner to send Farmington packing in the conference final.

That’s not to say it’s fait accompli. The Aces had to work hard to move past the Fighting Saints, and most notably, the Lynx actually won both regular season matches between these teams: first in a 7-2 early-season drubbing at Adirondack, then a closer 4-3 win at home. Neither team is a stranger to high-pressure, winner-take-all situations. It should be a great series.