Nicklas Lidstrom and the Geneva Generals have made news throughout the continent by earning the right to play Copenhagen for the Cup.

The months-long war in Europe that’s been waged on cold ice and against unforgiving wooden boards has come down to a final showdown. Two teams, one from Denmark and the other from Switzerland, have between 4 and 7 games to prove they are most worthy of the honor of holding the EURO League Cup over their heads with history and the hockey world as their witnesses.

The Copenhagen Tridents, champions of the Northern Conference, made it to the finals by beating Swedish foes Gothenburg and Stockholm in 7 and 5 games, respectively, in the first two rounds of the playoffs. In the conference finals, they surged from a 3-1 deficit against the surprising Fighting Irish, finally conquering Dublin in seven games.

Geneva, which won the President’s Trophy as the top team at the end of the regulation season, stampeded through Berlin and then Bratislava in 8 games before tangling with the Munich Fox in an intense struggle that was won in the third period of Game 7 on Monday.

Both teams will open the series minus one injured veteran. Fyodor Tyutin is out of the Copenhagen lineup, while Ryan Malone will sit for Geneva.

During the regular season, the two teams squared off twice, Geneva winning both times. On Dec. 24 in Copenhagen, Geneva won 4-1 with Raffi Torres scoring twice in the first period and Marian Gaborik scoring twice in the second. Kari Lehtonen beat Jonas Hiller in the goaltender duel, each of them making 30 saves. Gaborik was named the first star, Lehtonen the second and Torres the third. Then on Feb. 6, Gaborik scored to break a 2-2 tie in the second period and that’s how it eventually ended. Both teams had 35 shots on goal with Lehtonen in goal again for Geneva and Roberto Luongo playing for the Tridents. Lehtonen, Brandon Sutter of Copenhagen, and Gaborik were the three stars.