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Nicole Baldwin鈥檚 Yukon rink is ready to rock.

The 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts gets underway in Grande Prairie, Alta., tonight with a pre-qualifying round to determine the final entry into the 12-team main draw.

Baldwin, 35, is captaining Yukon鈥檚 roster at the Canadian women鈥檚 curling championship.

Her rink also includes third Steph Jackson-Baier (from Victoria), second Ladene Shaw, lead Rhonda Horte and fifth Sandra Mikkelsen.

The team arrived in Grande Prairie Wednesday afternoon.

鈥淥ur goals are to play well, get through relegation and represent the Yukon in the Scotties main draw,鈥� Baldwin told the Star this morning. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 predict the future and you can鈥檛 do anything about the past, so we鈥檙e just living in the moment.鈥�

Baldwin鈥檚 rink earned the territorial title two games to one over Jenna Duncan last month.

Yukon鈥檚 single round-robin schedule begins at Revolution Place tonight with a game against Northwest Territories skip Kerry Galusha at 7 p.m. MT.

On Friday, Yukon faces British Columbia鈥檚 Karla Thompson of Kamloops at 7:30 a.m., then Nunavut鈥檚 Geneva Chislett of Iqaluit at 4:20 p.m.

The top two teams following the mini tournament will square off in the play-in game on national television Saturday at 1:30, all times MT.

B.C. 鈥� the last-ranked team from last year鈥檚 Scotties 鈥� joins the three territories in the relegation round. Neither Yukon, nor N.W.T. advanced out of the pre-tournament in 2015, while Nunavut is taking part for the first time.

Baldwin is familiar with her northern rivals, but Thompson will be a new challenger.

The southpaw beat out two-time Scotties champion Kelly Scott to take the B.C. title last month.

But regardless of the competition, Baldwin鈥檚 rink is raring to get going.

鈥淥f course there鈥檚 always going to be butterflies and excitement knowing that you鈥檙e representing the Yukon,鈥� said Baldwin.

鈥淏ut we鈥檙e ready. We鈥檙e prepared. We鈥檙e ready to play.鈥�

Georgina Wheatcroft, a B.C. curler who owns an Olympic bronze medal, is coaching Yukon鈥檚 entry.

If Baldwin and company manage to crack into the main draw, they will square off against some of the world鈥檚 best teams.

Defending champion Jennifer Jones and teammate Jill Officer will take aim at their record-tying sixth gold medal.

If successful, the duo would join Colleen Jones as the only six-time winners of the national tournament.

The Scotties main draw 鈥� which will be televised on TSN 鈥� will wrap up next Sunday, with the final set for 6:30 p.m.