Tappara Tampere of Finland and EV Zug of Switzerland are two of the best teams in Europe and two Champions Hockey League veterans.
Both clubs have had huge success domestically in recent years and have consistently finished in the highest positions of their leagues, but there's only one available space in the Final from this matchup - who is it waiting for?
- Tappara and Zug have never missed a CHL season since 2014/15
- Both won their respective domestic titles in 2022
- Tappara made it to the Final last season, Zug's first time in Semi-Finals
The fact that neither Tappara nor Zug have missed a Champions Hockey League season since 2014/15 is evidence that this Semi-Finals matchup is one of elite calibre.
Finland's Tappara Tampere are back in the Semi-Finals for a second year in a row, following six straight exits in the Round of 16 or earlier between 2014-2020.
Their composed, defense-focused style of play that emphasises building up play rather than turn-overs has paid off, with the Finns only letting 15 goals in over ten games, the least of the four teams still in the hunt for the European Trophy.
They've only scored 30 times, which is 11 times less than Zug, but their goals have been backed up by table-topping goaltending from Christian Heljanko who has been their go-to man in net.
The 25-year-old Finnish goaltender has jumped into net for all but one of his side's Playoff games so far this season and with nine games to his name in 2022/23, the Finnish international has made waves with his 94.81% Save Percentage, one of the best this season, having let only 1.32 goals into his net per game.
His composed and dependable performances give the team the confidence they need to play from the back, which has resulted in more than half of Tappara's defenders scoring two or more points. When looking at their forwards, the stats look even better - all but two of them have one or more points!
The stand-out player up front has been Niko Ojamäki, who has scored 6G and 4A for a total of ten points! Ojamäki scored 2G + 1A in his side's 5-1 battering of Rögle Ängelholm in their Quarter-Finals Return Game, as did Veli-Matti Savinainen.
The game saw the Finns overturn a one-goal deficit to move on to the Semi-Finals after a dominant performance in front of their home fans.
Last season, the 2022 Liiga champions made it past this round and onto the Final where they clashed with Rögle - can they make that step again?
Zug might not need an introduction to CHL fans, but it might come as a surprise that this is the first time the 2022 NL champions are in the CHL Semi-Finals.
The Swiss side have been an extremely dominant team on the pan-European stage, having not lost a game in the CHL this season. They've won seven in regulation, won two in OT and drawn once.
They are the second-highest scoring team of the season but have also let in the least goals of the final four remaining teams (just 14). The resulting Goal Difference of +27 puts them on top of the GD chart.
They have also been really effective on the powerplay - with 25.81%, they are in the Top 5 of most effective teams. And rounding out all these stats, they also feature a penalty kill unit that has been operating at over 90%, good for sixth CHL-wide.
Zug rolled over Red Bull Munich in the Round of 16 to make the Quarter-Finals, beating them 5-1 away and 5-1 at home - a result that no one would have predicted ahead of the matchup, but had trouble against Czech side Mountfield HK in the following round.
After a 2-2 draw in the First Game in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic, it was all to play for in Zug. Both clubs were well aware of what was riding on their Return Game result and they delivered a tight-checking affair that saw one spectacular play to end it in OT when Brian O'Neill made a nifty move to score in three-on-three play and propel the Swiss to the Semi-Finals for the very first time.
And it's O'Neill who has been one of Zug's most visible players on the ice. The 33-year-old forward has scored 17 points (6G, 11A) and has been scoring at a rate of 1.7 points per game.
Two other players have scored five goals or more - Peter Cehlárik (5G, 6A) and Dario Simion (5G, 2A), while many more are on three and more.
Another player that must be highlighted is goaltender Leonardo Genoni who played in both of the Round of 16 games against Munich and in both Quarter-Finals games against Mountfield.
The Swiss International is a big reason why Zug have been so sturdy at the back. With a mere 1.42 Goals Against Average and 93.46 Save Percentage, he's one of the best in the business and tops many of the CHL stats charts.
It's certain that at least one of the teams that will battle it out for the European Trophy will be from Sweden, but will the other be from Finland or Switzerland? We'll find out soon!