Denton Mateychuk, Carson Brisson, Kyle Kelsey, and Luke Robson will not be the only four members of the Moose Jaw Warriors organization on the ice at the WHL Cup this week in Calgary.

The Warriors will also have an alum present with Cody Beach serving as an official at the tournament over the next five days.

"It’s an absolute dream of an opportunity," Beach said on heading to the WHL Cup.

Beach, along with Prince Albert’s Ty Skene, who will be serving as a linesman, are the two representatives from the Saskatchewan Hockey Association at the WHL Cup this week. 

"To be selected as one of the only two officials in Saskatchewan, we have great officials throughout the whole province, so to be selected it’s phenomenal and I’m excited to get there and get going," Beach said.

Like the players, who are all Western Hockey League prospects, Beach will be heading to the tournament to show what he can do in a hope of making the jump into the major junior league next season.

"Your performance in this weekend could dictate a lot in the future," he said.

"When you go to events like this that are above your standard game, there’s more people watching, there’s more people at higher levels watching, so a good performance at an event like this could go a long way."

Beach played two seasons with the Warriors, becoming a fan favourite with his hard-nosed style. He was selected in the fifth round by the St. Louis Blues in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and following his 19-year-old season, Beach moved onto the professional ranks.

He played four seasons between the American Hockey League and ECHL before suffering a career-ending injury.

"It was tough not being able to dictate how you go out," Beach said. "Realistically, life goes on and at the end of the day, I love the game, I have a passion for the game and I’ve always wanted to be involved in the game."

After his playing career came to an end, Beach decided to stay involved by moving into officiating. He has worked his way through the ranks in minor hockey over the past two seasons to serving as an official in WHL preseason games this season.

"The officiating route grabbed me and I’ve ran with it," Beach said. 

It’s an interesting turn of events for Beach, who played an agitator role during his playing career and had run-ins with officials throughout his time as a player.

"With my experiences as a player, the way I played the game and how I saw the game, I saw more than your average skill player — I always had to find that fine line as a player every night if I wanted to be effect or not — and taking that to officiating, you can appreciate the guys that play that way, you can communicate with them and you can deal with situations differently," Beach said.

Beach is officiating in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Prairie Junior Hockey League and Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League. 

"I’m still trying to stay as involved in the minor hockey side of things, trying to mentor and be around where I can give some feedback to younger officials when they need it and to help their development," Beach said.

Beach’s first game as an official in the Western Hockey League was a meeting between his former team, the Warriors, and the rival Regina Pats. Beach heard some boos early in that game when he gave the Pats the first power play.

He said there was some nerves heading into that game, "I was comfortable at the same, I felt I was prepared for it," Beach said. "I was on the other side of the Moose Jaw-Regina battle for so long, two great franchises, both teams have great staffs and getting to mediate it instead of being the guy causing scene out there was awesome and something I’ll never forget."

The 2019 WHL Cup runs Wednesday through Sunday at the Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary, Alta. Team Alberta has won the championship five times, while Team British Columbia came away with the title during the last tournament in 2017.