Moose Jaw’s Bryan Thomson will be getting the opportunity to square off with the best in the West.

On Wednesday, the local goalie was named to Team Saskatchewan for the 2017 WHL Cup, which was renamed this year after being known as the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup since its inception in 2009.

“It’s always an honour to go and represent your province and it’s definitely a huge honour for me,” said Thomson after the roster announcement on Wednesday.

Thomson will be joined in the Team Sask net by Moose Jaw Generals goalie Ethan Hein. Moose Jaw Warriors first round pick Daemon Hunt and fifth round pick Cory King will suit up for Team Manitoba at the WHL Cup, which runs Oct. 18-22 in Calgary.

The tournament features the top 15-year-olds from across Western Canada going head-to-head in a showcase of the future of the Western Hockey League. Of the 80 players named to the teams from the four Western provinces, 72 of them were selected in the WHL Bantam Draft this spring.

“There’s going to be some good competition, so getting to play at a high, competitive level like that is always nice and getting to see what it takes to get to the next level,” said Thomson.

“It will be nice to get use to what I’ll be seeing in the near future, some of these guys that I’ll be going against are really highly ranked and it will be a good test.”

Thomson is playing this season with the Notre Dame Argos in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League after being selected in the second round, 37th overall, by the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft.

Thomson and the Argos are off to a 1-3 start to the season, he’s posted a 6.53 goals against average and a 0.820 save percentage in two starts.

Despite the slow start, Thomson is optimistic about the season for the Argos.

“We’re pretty good this year, we’ll be able to have some good games against the top teams,” he said.

“I would have liked to start off a bit better, put some better numbers up, but now that we’re in the season a little bit more, get comfortable with the group of guys in front of me, I’ll do pretty good this year.”

Thomson started off his season by heading to his first WHL training camp with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, playing in two preseason games, posting a 3.55 G.A.A and an 0.865 save percentage.

He said he gained some confidence in getting his first taste of the WHL level.

“It was a great experience for me there,” he said. “It was awesome to get to know what the league is going to be like and what I’m going to be going up against.”

Team Saskatchewan has never won the WHL Cup, they lost the bronze medal game to Team Manitoba last season.

The tournament opens on Oct. 18 at the Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary.