The 2026 Aurora Borealis Cup playoffs or the 2026 Auroraliiga playoffs () is the playoff tournament for the 2025–26 season of the Auroraliiga. The tournament began on 28 February and the Aurora Borealis Cup was awarded to Kiekko-Espoo on 8 April.
Entering the playoffs, Kiekko-Espoo, the 2025 Aurora Borealis Cup champions, were the favorites for the 2026 Aurora Borealis Cup.
Bracket
Quarterfinals The top eight teams from the regular season qualified for the best-of-five quarterfinals (). It began on Saturday, 28 February and concluded on Saturday, 7 March.
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 HPK and Kärpät's home venues, the teams were scheduled to play back-to-back games at each venue rather than alternating on a per-game basis. HPK was granted home ice advantage for the first, second, and potential fifth game.
All times local, Eastern European Time (UTC+2)
(1) K-Espoo vs. (8) KalPa
(2) HPK vs. (7) Kärpät
(3) HIFK vs. (6) TPS
(4) Kuortane vs. (5) Ilves
Semifinals The best-of-seven semifinals () began on Wednesday, 11 March and concluded on Tuesday, 24 March. Kiekko-Espoo swept their series against Ilves and secured their return to the finals on 19 March. The series between HPK and HIFK was pushed to seven games, with HPK earning a finals berth on 24 March.
All times local, Eastern European Time (UTC+2)
K-Espoo vs. Ilves
Kiekko-Espoo continued their winning streak in the playoffs, sweeping Ilves in the semifinals.
HPK vs. HIFK
HPK forward Barbora Juříčková sustained an ankle injury during game four of the semifinals and did not play in any subsequent semifinal games.
HPK goaltender Anni Keisala posted a 27-shot shutout in game seven of the series, assuring a return to the finals for the Hämeenlinna-based team.
Bronze medal game All times local, Eastern European Time (UTC+2)
Finals All times local – Eastern European Time (UTC+2) for game played 28 March, Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3) for games played on or after 29 March
Player statistics Scoring leaders The following players led the league in playoff points at the conclusion of the game played on 5 April 2026. PlayerTeamK-Espoo 12 11 10 21 6K-Espoo 12 9 6 15 16HPK 16 6 6 12 14K-Espoo 12 4 8 12 2HIFK 12 7 4 11 12K-Espoo 12 5 6 11 0HPK 6 6 4 10 2HPK 16 6 4 10 2Ilves 8 5 5 10 0Ilves 8 4 6 10 2HPK 16 4 6 10 6Ilves 8 2 8 10 2K-Espoo 12 2 8 10 0K-Espoo 12 2 8 10 6HPK 16 2 8 10 6HIFK 11 3 6 9 6HIFK 12 3 6 9 0K-Espoo 12 2 7 9 2HPK 16 2 7 9 4K-Espoo 12 2 6 8 0
Goaltenders The following table lists all goaltenders who had played at least one-third of their team's playoff minutes in net at the conclusion of the game played on 5 April 2026, sorted by save percentage. ^ Team eliminated in quarterfinals Player Team ^TPS 3 178:54 1 2 6 0 94.2 2.01HPK 16 987:57 8 6 32 1 91.9 1.94HIFK 11 702:37 5 4 21 2 91.8 1.79Ilves 8 481:19 4 4 20 0 90.8 2.49^Kuortane 2 114:12 0 2 7 0 90.7 3.68K-Espoo 9 544:36 7 2 19 1 90.3 2.09^Kuortane 1 58:06 0 1 3 0 90.0 3.10^Kärpät 4 192:56 1 3 14 0 89.4 4.35^KalPa 2 109:07 0 2 11 0 85.9 6.05^KalPa 2 70:53 0 1 9 0 85.0 7.62 The following table lists all goaltenders who had accumulated less than one-third of their team's playoff minutes in net at the conclusion of the game played on 5 April 2026, sorted by save percentage. Player Team ^Kärpät 1 42:10 0 0 1 0 96.4 1.42K-Espoo 3 180:00 3 0 4 0 90.9 1.33^TPS 1 67:49 0 1 4 0 90.7 3.54HIFK 1 58:19 0 1 3 0 86.4 3.09
References
Game references
External links Official statistics from the Finnish Ice Hockey Association