Nathan Walker ended up being the first Australian to play in the NHL without having the ability to adhere to the Organization a lot as a kid, not to mention see it with his own eyes in his own country. So envision just how the St. Louis Blues onward feels about the NHL playing in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time. The Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings will certainly challenge in two preseason games at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday and Sunday in the 2023 NHL International Collection-- Melbourne. " I imply, undoubtedly, being Australian, I think it's fantastic for the video game of hockey," Walker stated, "and hopefully it can just produce even more awareness for it. " Walker made history when he debuted for the Washington Capitals on Oct. 7, 2017, scoring an objective in a 6-1 win versus the Montreal Canadiens at Funding One Field. The 29-year-old has 27 factors in 111 NHL video games for the Capitals, Edmonton Oilers and Blues and one help in five Stanley Mug Playoff video games. The hope is there will be a lot more gamers like Walker, kids in Australia who fall in love with hockey and chase their dream, whether they make the NHL or not. And the hope is they will certainly have the ability to do it a lot more quickly than Pedestrian did. Born in Cardiff, Wales, Walker's family members transferred to Sydney when he was 2 Ron Duguay Jersey. He and his older bro, Ryan, got hooked on hockey by seeing a game live, and allow's just claim it wasn't at the NHL degree. " We just mosted likely to a hockey rink and sort of seen, like, a beer organization game, and we simply sort of loved it and believed we 'd provide it a shot," Walker said. "And ever before given that then, we have actually both kind of loved the game and liked the sport. " Pedestrian played inline and ice hockey from age 5 or 6. He viewed "The Mighty Ducks" flicks and "Mystery, Alaska," and he studied hockey emphasize DVDs he hopped on a browse through to the Hockey Hall of Popularity during a check out to Toronto for an event. But he couldn't actually view the NHL. It wasn't on tv in Australia then. The Web was in its infancy. When he was 11, he played in 3 divisions at the very same time-- U13, U15 and U18. When he was 13, he needed to make a decision. " There just kind of wasn't sufficient hockey for me back home, and I was just skating two times a week or so," he stated. "I had a Slovakian train back home, and he rather a lot claimed, 'You recognize, if you desire to attempt to make an occupation out of this, after that you have actually obtained to obtain out of Australia and go someplace. '" The instructor got Walker a trial run in Vitkovice, Czech Republic, regarding 10,000 miles away. Walker opted for a week, attempted out and made the team. He invested the next 6 years there developing versus harder competitors and rising the ranks. The very first year, he coped with a family that didn't speak English. He really did not talk Czech at the time, and Google Translate had not been what it is today, so he and the family members would interact with hand gestures. " That first year was hard," he claimed. "And after that afterwards, I kind of simply obeyed myself in a dormitory. " Walker likewise played seven ready the Sydney Ice Dogs of the semi-pro Australian Ice Hockey League-- 4 in 2010, when he was 16, and three in 2011, when he was 17-- and represented Australia in the reduced levels of the IIHF Globe Championship in 2011 and 2012. The 2011 Division II Team A competition was at the very same rink in Melbourne, now understood as O'Brien Icehouse, where the Coyotes and Kings will certainly practice today. He had six factors in 4 games. Australia won gold. Walker reached the top Czech organization in 2011-12, coming to be the very first Australian to play pro hockey in Europe, and the Capitals invited him to growth camp that summer. Midway via the 2012-13 season, he played in The United States and Canada for the first time and had 27 points in 29 games for Youngstown of the United States Hockey Organization Eddie Joyal Jersey. Washington invited him to advancement camp again and maintained him for training school on a tryout. He played two preseason games with the Resources, authorized with Hershey of the American Hockey Organization and had 11 points in 43 games in 2013-14. Washington made him the very first Australian to be picked in the NHL Draft, taking him in the 3rd round in 2014, his 3rd and last year of eligibility. That alone is an amazing story. But Pedestrian made it extra unbelievable when he got to the NHL. His jersey is currently on screen in the Hockey Hall of Popularity, where he got those hockey DVDs as a kid. He played in one postseason video game when the Capitals won the Cup in 2018 and had his first NHL hat method when he racked up three objectives for cry in a 6-2 win versus the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 9, 2021. Last period, he played entirely in the NHL for the very first time, with 10 points in 56 ready St. Louis. Nathan Walker nets a hat-trick versus the Red Wings The course from Australia to the NHL-- or just from Australia to higher-level hockey-- isn't necessarily much easier today. Kale Costa, a 21-year-old forward from Sydney, remains in his nine period having fun in the Czech Republic. But a minimum of it's less complicated to follow the NHL in Australia currently thanks to streaming solutions, social media and computer game. And ESPN airs NHL video games in the country. " Oh, yeah," Walker claimed. "Hundred percent. I suggest, the Net's transformed a great deal, I think, because I was younger. You can practically have every video game at your disposal, the highlights. You enter into a hockey shop in Australia, and they're playing some type of hockey on the TV. I think there's a whole lot much more direct exposure to ice hockey in Australia currently than there was when I was a youngster. " The NHL's browse through will certainly bring more. Pedestrian wants Australian hockey followers to see the NHL personally, Australian sports fans to understand the nation has its own ice hockey league in the AIHL, and others to obtain hooked on hockey by seeing it live. Besides, he did, which was a beer organization video game. " A lot of people are excited for the video games," he stated. "A lot of my pals have actually got tickets to decrease to Melbourne and watch them, so I think the entire hockey community's truly thrilled for it. It'll be excellent if individuals that didn't truly understand much about hockey were going to it and getting ecstatic about it as well. " Walker goes home each offseason-- summer in the North Hemisphere, wintertime in the Southern. He works out by himself in a gym he built in his in-laws' yard and skates with the Ice Dogs at Macquarie Ice Rink in the Sydney suburban areas. Once in a while, he'll obtain an hour of ice to himself there. It's still a lengthy way from the NHL, without any glass atop the boards. One day, his journey may come complete circle. He could go from the NHL back to the AIHL, acting as an inspiration to children fantasizing of becoming the next Nathan Walker. " I wouldn't state I've thought of it way too much," he claimed, "yet I think it's certainly a possibility, I mean, whenever I do finish up going home and calling it an occupation, I guess Jack Hughes Jersey. I would certainly like to decrease there and type of help the game and see if I can expand it any kind of more. Yeah, I would not mind tiing them up for a pair extra times back home. "