What do the Spokane Chiefs and Paul McCartney have in common? They鈥檙e both playing at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena this month.

It will all be explained.

The Chiefs are set to take on the Kamloops Blazers in the opening round of the Western Hockey League (WHL) playoffs, with Game 1 of the best-of-seven series in Kamloops on Friday night. It鈥檚 a different set-up than traditional best-of-sevens as the first three games will be in Kamloops, followed by the next three in Spokane with Game 7, if it gets that far, back in Kamloops. A normal series would see both teams play two home games each with Games 5 through 7 flip-flopping between both cities.

So why is it like that? That鈥檚 where Paul McCartney comes in as Yellowknife鈥檚 Logan Cunningham explained.

鈥淗e鈥檚 having a concert at our arena (on April 28) and that took up our ice time,鈥� said Cunningham, a defenceman for Spokane. 鈥淚 guess the arena wasn鈥檛 expecting us to be in the playoffs so that鈥檚 why they probably scheduled it for then.鈥�

In any case, the Chiefs go into the WHL playoffs as the seventh seed in the Western Conference, and it鈥檚 a spot that Cunningham didn鈥檛 think they would occupy at any point this season. They spent most of the first half of the regular season languishing near the bottom of the conference.

Cunningham said it all had to do with Adam Maglio, who started the season as head coach but didn鈥檛 finish as he was fired in early February.

鈥淭he team culture just wasn鈥檛 good earlier in the season with our old coach,鈥� he said. 鈥淎ll he did was coach by video and the guys just didn鈥檛 seem to want to battle every night for him and that鈥檚 not good.鈥�

Ryan Smith, the team鈥檚 associate head coach, was named as Maglio鈥檚 replacement, and Cunningham said that鈥檚 when things began to change.

鈥淗e鈥檚 connected with all the players and everyone loves him because he brought a totally different attitude,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou want to go out and fight for a guy like that and the results have been obvious. We鈥檝e been a much better team since he took over.鈥�

Being a lower seed means the pressure isn鈥檛 there, said Cunningham.

鈥淥ur goal is to win it all but if we can get Game 1, then we get into their heads a bit,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e pop them on home ice early and they start getting nervous. There鈥檚 no pressure on us. We鈥檝e come up from last place in the standings so why not go out there and try to do some damage?鈥�

The attitude in the locker room is that there鈥檚 nothing to lose, he added.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going all in, go out there and do what we can,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f we aren鈥檛 at our best, they鈥檒l roll over us but if we play like we have the last little while, we can do some damage.鈥�

This will be Cunningham鈥檚 first playoff run in the WHL and he said the feeling is one of nervous excitement.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what to expect,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 get to do the playoffs last season because our season was cut short and I haven鈥檛 been around long enough to experience what it鈥檚 like but I鈥檓 expecting it will be a battle for sure.鈥�