North Stars Rylan Williams’ hard work pays off in the rink and on the farm

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The Williams family farm, River Bend Acres, works 4,000 acres of lentils, peas, canola, and durum. Rylan’s father, Danny, is an alumnus of the Melfort Mustangs and when he isn’t on the farm, he works as a production superintendent at Baytex Energy in Kindersley, SK. His mother, Dawn, is a self-employed entrepreneur who also helps on the farm.

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“I look up to my dad a lot, he gets back from his job and goes straight to the farm, hops on the sprayer, or wherever he needs to, and makes no fuss about it. He’s the hardest-working person I’ve ever met. My parents, to see what they do daily and not ever complain about it, has given me a powerful mindset, and I know I’ve learned so much from them through farming.” Williams said.

Williams, 19, was picked by La Ronge in the 2020 SJHL draft from the Battlefords Stars AAA team but was moved to the North Stars soon after completing his 2022/23 season with the Swift Current Legionnaires.

A powerfully built 6-foot-1, 185-pound right winger, he took little time making an impact on the SJHL as a rookie, when he posted 32 points in 44 games last season.

With the likes of back-to-back SJHL MVP Kian Bell, as well as goal scorers Ben Portner and Brad Blake, Williams had a lot of quality experienced players to learn from and now is expected to be a significant contributor in all areas for the North Stars, already notching three goals and five assists in eight games this season.

“I think I just did all the little things as best as I could,” he said, “and just kind of trusted the process.”

“I drove the net all the time and just crashed it hard. I went to the dirty where some players don’t want to go, and I’d get some bounces here and there, and I just felt like I could take advantage of those chances. I’m still that grinder guy who will go into the corners and power forward.”

Williams and the other Stars veterans had to deal with a bit of adversity to start this season with the departure of head coach and general manager, Gary Childerhose.

“It’s tough,” he said, “and we wish Gary the best.”

“But the guys have been excellent; our leaders like (captain) Jackson Allan and (assistant captain) Jordan Grill have stepped up, as have all the rest of the guys who were here last year. We banded together and ensured everybody was still here mentally and obviously had a job to do, no matter what happened.”

Williams’ maturity and focus are evident. His desire to maintain the same winning mindset as in past years remains strong, just like his desire to continue the family tradition.

“I have the mindset that I would love to fall back into farming one day,” he said.

“Once I’m done hockey and schooling, I would love to help my dad on the farm and maybe even take over if he ever gives up.”

“Not sure if he’ll ever quit, though,” Williams chuckled.

Williams is now getting prepared for the first game against his former head coach Brayden Klimosko, as the North Stars take on the Humboldt Broncos tomorrow at the Access Communication Centre at 7:30 p.m.

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*With files from Jamie Neugebauer of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.