Nathan Walker doesn't step on the ice in Australia expecting red carpets and autograph lines. But as the first and only Australian native to play in the NHL, the St. Louis Blues forward carries something heavier than a hockey bag when he returns home: The mantle of possibility.

Since the 2023 NHL Global Series in Melbourne, when the League brought the Arizona Coyotes and the Los Angeles Kings to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time, Walker has seen real movement in Australian hockey. Yet the sport still edges forward inch by icy inch, held back by geography, cost and infrastructure.

"There's been steady growth, I think the interest is definitely there as well," Walker told NHL.com International. "A lot of kids are getting exposed to hockey now, whether it be through TV or through

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