This is almost exactly where a childhood Rylan Wieler had hoped to take his hockey ambitions.
“As a younger guy growing up in Lloyd, that’s what you want to achieve in your career, is to play for the Bobcats and make it to that level,” said Wieler, the newest member of the Alberta Junior Hockey League team.
“I mean, at that time, you’re such a young kid still, going to high school and middle school, so obviously you look up to those guys.
“Now, to come back home as a 20-year-old, my last year, it means the world. I’m so excited to get going.”
Read more: Lloydminster Bobcats gain Wieler, Romanchuk
Youngsters in the Border City now can aspire to be Bobcats like Wieler and his fellow hometown overage players, Jaxan Hopko and Landen Ward.
“I know those two very well,” said Wieler, just acquired in a June 1 trade with the Kindersley Klippers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
“I played with both of them for most or all of my minor hockey, so it’s exciting to be together again. They’re two of my closest friends, as well.”
Hopko, entering his fourth year with the junior A Bobcats, is the team’s new captain. This past season, he was recognized among the four finalists for the AJHL’s outstanding defenceman honours.
Ward, a physical forward, came home to the Bobcats halfway through the 2025-26 season, after playing in the BCHL and previously the WHL.
Wieler, a playmaking forward, was the top scorer with Kindersley this past winter, in his second SJHL season with the Klippers, just as he was three years ago with the U18 AAA Lloydminster Lancers.
On the first weekend of June, four days after his trade was announced, Wieler stepped onto the ice with the Bobcats for their 40-man spring camp.
“I always kind of describe myself as a pass-first guy,” said Wieler, whose 48 points in 55 games this year included 37 assists. “I want my linemates and teammates to succeed, so I try to help them out as much as possible.
“I think I’m super hard-working and dedicated and want to win really bad. I’m trying to get a little bit of chippiness going into my game, as well, and just be harder to play against. Especially being a bit of a smaller guy.”
He has returned to Lloydminster as a bigger boy, now measuring in at about six feet and between 165 and 170 pounds.
“I’ve had a couple of good growth spurts over the last couple of years, and that’s helped (on the ice),” Wieler said.
In similar fashion, he has grown off the ice, after living away from home for two hockey seasons.
“It’s a change, growing up and living with your parents your whole life, and then moving away to a complete stranger’s house,” Wieler said.
“I didn’t really know many guys on that Kindersley team when I first moved there. You’ve got to get to know the town and the whole-new team and all the coaches.
“I honestly think it kind of grew me quite a bit, learning how to be more responsible and live on your own and make new friends and all that sort of thing. It helped me a ton.”
Wieler reports he had “awesome people” as his billet family for both of his years in Kindersley. At the same time, he learned to take responsibility for household duties even before he headed to the rink.
“Keeping your room tidy and keeping the kitchen tidy,” he said. “(Billets) are not there all the time, too, so you’ve got to cook your own meals and all that sort of thing. It’s kind of just living on your own a little bit and growing up a bit, for sure.”
That sense of responsibility and accountability carries over into the off-season. Wieler and Ward are working together this summer on a Marksmen Vegetation Management job that begins in the early morning hours.
“We pretty much just spray oil leases, just get all the weeds out and all the vegetation and stuff like that,” Wieler said. “It’s nothing too crazy, but it gets the job done.
“We start most days at 4 o’clock in the morning, so it’s early nights, but it’s been good so far.”
The Bobcats have already sprinkled their lineup with a healthy complement of local talent, including recent additions Wieler and Rhett Romanchuk, both previously Kindersley property.
Romanchuk, a defenceman who captained the U18 AAA Lancers this past winter, had been signed with the Klippers, but Lloydminster gained his services this spring.
Romanchuk and incumbent Bobcats defenceman Brady Gamble were rookies with the Lancers three seasons ago during Wieler’s final year of U18 AAA.
Romanchuk’s signing was revealed just a week before the Bobcats and Klippers announced that Wieler was Lloyd bound in exchange for future considerations.
“It’s kind of funny how all that worked out,” Wieler said. “I know Rhett pretty well. I played with him in midget and stuff, throughout minor hockey. I think he’s going to have a good year. I’m excited to play with him again and watch him grow as a player.”
Over the years, Wieler’s growth in hockey has been augmented by the presence of his father, Ryan, a former junior hockey player and coach who served as an assistant coach with the Lloydminster Blazers, the AJHL predecessor of the Bobcats.
“He played and he coached for a couple of years, too,” Wieler said. “He’s a good hockey mind. I always look up to him for advice. He was always a pretty good mentor to me.”
At the end of March, father and son made a memorable trip to Colorado.
“It was his 50th birthday, so we had a little bit of a weekend to celebrate his birthday,” said the younger Wieler, an Edmonton Oilers’ fan. “His favourite (NHL) team is Colorado, so we watched a couple of Avalanche games and attended a couple of car shows. It was a really good trip. A fun weekend.”
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