Moose Jaw's Bryan Thomson had just finished a game with the Notre Dame Hounds of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League when his coach pulled him aside and gave him some big news.

The 16-year-old goaltender is heading to the Western Hockey League for the rest of the season after being called up by the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

"It's pretty awesome being here right now," said Thomson over the phone from Seattle where the Hurricanes will open their U.S. Division road trip on Friday. "I was kind of shocked at first but I'm just going to do as much as I can for the team and get settled in."

Thomson was drafted by the Hurricanes in the second round of the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft. He'll join fellow Moose Jaw product Nolan Jones on the Hurricanes.

The need for Thomson to make the jump to the Hurricanes came after recently acquired 19-year-old netminder Liam Hughes left the Central Division team for personal reasons. Lethbridge had acquired Hughes from Seattle on Jan. 1.

Lethbridge will be moving forward with 17-year-old Carl Tetachuk and Thomson in goal for the rest of the season.

Thomson said he's looking to make the most of the opportunity in front of him, "I'm ready, I've been preparing for the last couple of months after [training camp with the Hurricanes]," he said. "I've just got to come up here, play my game and show that I’m ready."

In 16 games this season with Notre Dame, Thomson had posted a 6-9-0 record with 2.94 goals against average and a 0.893 save percentage. 

"I was coming off a couple of good games, feeling good about my game," he said.

"I just have a high compete level in practices and I'm going to carry that over into my game here."

The Hurricanes are in the middle of a tight playoff race in the Central Division. They currently hold down third place, just two points behind the division-leading Edmonton Oil Kings. Jumping into the middle of a playoff race, Thomson said he knows that there won't be much room for an adjustment period.

"It's awesome being a part of such a great team and being a part of a playoff team will be special," he said.

"We just have to show the team that it doesn't matter how old their goalies are, we can get the job done together and it doesn't matter who's in the net, if we play our game, we'll be fine."

Thomson joined the Hurricanes just in time to head down to the United States for their three-game road trip to Seattle, Everett and Portland.

"Bonding with the team is really important, getting to know the guys a little better is big for me, getting to have a connection with them," said Thomson.

Thomson, Jones and the Hurricanes face-off with the Thunderbirds at 9:35 p.m. Sask. time on Friday.