The seventh place Central Plains Capitals look to steal game one from second place Yellowhead tonight as their first round of the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League Playoffs begins on the road in Shoal Lake. The Caps were eliminated in five games by the Chiefs in last year's first round.

The Caps and Chiefs split this year's season series at two games each, with both teams winning a game at home and on the road.

"It's the old Highway 16 series, a repeat of last year's opening round too," says head coach Brad Gnidzjieko. "We took two from them in Shoal Lake and they won two in Portage, and then we lost in overtime in game five last year. We're hoping it doesn't go that far, we don't want to be on the bus three times to Yellowhead, but if we play our systems, play together, play strong, and get good goaltending, we give ourselves a good chance to advance."

Central Plains lost their final game of the regular season to the Thrashers, and by doing so, avoided them in the first round of the playoffs.

"We've had success against every team in the league except them," says Gnidzjieko. "...but I could argue that we match up against any team in this league. Now, you have to play. You have to have good team play, be strong without the puck, and play with a high effort level for 60-minutes. This year anyone can beat anyone, the playoffs are wide open as far as I'm concerned."

Gnidzjieko is hoping there's a bit of a rivalry after last year's series and wants his team to play with some passion tonight. Puck drop is 7:30 in Shoal Lake.