Former Norman Northstars will be facing off tonight in the opening round of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs, with team alumni lining up on opposite sides of the faceoff dot in two of the four first-round playoff series.

Former teammates Calvin Cairns of Snow Lake and Mathew Backhouse of Thompson will meet each other as opponents tonight, as the Neepawa Natives take the ice against the Dauphin King. Cairns, traded earlier in the season to Neepawa from the Estevan Bruins of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, had six goals and eight assists in 45 games with the Natives and also racked up 156 penalty minutes after being converted from a defenceman to a winger. Backhouse had one goal, 23 assists and 28 penalty minutes in 62 games with the Kings, who won a league-best 50 games this season, finishing 21 points ahead of the next-closest team. The Natives were fourth in the Sher-wood Division, with a record of 34-24-1-3 to finish with 72 points.

The Swan Valley Stampeders, who were third in the Sher-wood Division, with a record of 34-22-2-4 and 74 points, start the playoffs on the road, meeting the Portage Terriers, who had the third-most wins in the league with a record of 35-17-4-6. Swan Valley features two former Northstars on its roster with forward Myles Stevens and defenceman Brent Wilson, both from Norway House. Stevens had 27 goals and 51 assists for 78 points and was sixth in the league in scoring, while Wilson was the league's second highest-scoring defenceman with 11 goals and 31 assists in 44 games, including 23 points on the power play. Wilson's former teammate Kajon McKay of Wabowden had six goals and 28 assists in 48 games with the Terriers.

Kyle Stephansson, who spent the 2007-2008 season with the Northstars, had seven goals and three assists in 37 games with the Winnipeg South Blues, who visit the Winnipeg Saints tomorrow to start their playoff run.