Though many rinks celebrated Canada Day at their Australian Ice Hockey League matches a week ago, Sunday, June 29, was Nathan Walker Day for the small but passionate Australian ice hockey community.

Fans attending AIHL games wore big grins and regaled each other with the story of how and when they found out that the feisty winger from Sutherland Shire in Sydney had been selected by the Washington Capitals with pick 89 of the NHL draft.

The signing was a boost not just for hockey in Australia but for the International Exhibition series which tours Australia from this Friday, starting in Perth. Walker will be one of the NHL players suiting up for the series, which also travels to Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney during July.

Walker is now focused on getting a first NHL game under his belt, but his journey so far is remarkable. He left home at 13 to better learn his craft, and get more ice time, in the Czech Republic, where he spent much of his next six years. For the past two years he has plied his trade in the United States, lately with Washington’s American Hockey League affiliate the Hershey Bears.

His tale of sacrifice and persistence has already made a big impact, says AIHL commissioner Robert Bannerman.

''This is an historic event for Nathan, his family, and Australian ice hockey. It will generate broad awareness for the sport in Australia. It will encourage young kids to come and try ice hockey,'' he said.

''It will inspire athletes to stay in the sport longer, and ultimately lead to more talent and fans for Australian Ice Hockey League teams. Nathan has united the ice hockey community. We will soon shift from celebrating his accomplishments to creating the future; improving training, facilities, capabilities, resources, etc. We have to exploit this opportunity to develop 'The Next One'.

''We’re already seeing the impact. There’s been a flood of interest from import players. There’s piqued interest from potential sponsors and a bump in attendance at last weekend’s AIHL games.''

It does not detract a jot from Walker's achievement, but there was one thing about the heart-warming story that was incorrect – he is not the first Australian to be drafted by an NHL team.

Goalie Jason Elliott, drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1994, played for Australia as a young man. Born in the Northwest Territories in the Canadian hinterland, Jason followed his parents – his father was a ''mountie'' working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police – to Australia in the early 1990s and started playing for the Canberra Knights. Shortly afterwards, he was selected for the national junior squad, and then the senior team. He represented Australia at the 1993 Group C World Championships in Slovenia.

Elliott’s rise to represent Australia was rapid, and his tenure brief. Former teammate and Australian games record-holder Glen Foll says Elliott was already back in Canada playing junior hockey (with the Kimberley Dynamiters of the Rocky Mountain Hockey League) when he was called up for the tournament in Slovenia.

''In the early '80s it was easier to get residency, especially through sport. Technically, you were supposed to be a permanent resident for two years, then you were eligible for citizenship,'' Foll said last week. ''They would rush it through if you were representing the country.''

Foll knows this first-hand – he is an ex-Canadian himself, and for his first three years in Australia, played winters in Australia and summers in North America, or vice versa, depending on where you call home. When his prospects of higher honours in his birthplace faded, the lure of national representation played a part in his choice to settle in Australia. He then played 80 games over 18 years for the national team. Living in Adelaide, he still plays hockey, referees in the national league and coaches juniors.

Elliott’s connection with Australian hockey was brief, but surprisingly significant for his career. Foll believes the coach of a team touring Australia alerted the Red Wings of Elliott’s potential, leading to him being drafted with pick 205 in the eighth round in 1994.

Elliott did not play a game that year, being the back-up to the back-up goalie, but his name was included on the famous Stanley Cup trophy, and he was pictured waving to fans in the Cup-winner’s parade.

Foll says Elliott’s quality was obvious immediately. ''You could tell he was a class goalie. His positioning, puck handling, sets him apart from the other goalies I played with.''

Elliott’s lack of NHL game time reminds us why Walker is now so determined to nab that first NHL game.

Despite the fact that there are fewer opportunities for goaltenders, Elliott was the third-string choice for nine years without getting on the ice for Detroit. He spent four years racking up an elite record while playing for Cornell University, before joining Detroit’s affiliate minor professional teams. The Benchwarmers blog, dedicated to goalies who never play in the NHL, recounts the five occasions after 2000 that Elliott was recalled to the NHL from minor professional teams Adirondack, Manitoba Moose and the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.

Each time, Elliott remained back-up and did not get a second of game time. In 2002, when Detroit again won the Stanley Cup final, his name was not on the trophy. But he got to hold it up in the post-match celebrations, having taken shots at practice from all the stars who won it. Elliott’s globe-trotting life then continued with stints in Finland and Germany.

Defenceman Darren Gavin, a Canadian citizen who was born in Perth, was drafted with the final pick of the 1984 draft (250), by the Edmonton Oilers. He played for Belleville and Peterborough in the Ontario Hockey League and also never recorded an NHL start.

Walker, born in Wales, was raised in Sydney from the age of two and is unmistakably Australian. He returns to Sydney between seasons and has been a popular figure at recent Sydney Ice Dogs games before returning to Washington for a week-long draft pre-season camp.

There are clues to the fact that he will get on the ice and avoid joining the ranks of drafted players who do not play in the NHL. Washington traded two picks to ensure they nabbed him, in the third round. He was expected to go much lower in the draft, if he was selected at all. The Capitals rate his talents and character, and wanted to ensure he was not picked up by a rival.

And being a 20-year-old, who has played a year of senior professional hockey and proven his maturity with his travels, Walker is ahead of many other draftees in the queue for a call-up to the big time.

Australians have not seen Walker on home ice since the 2011 world championship series in Melbourne. Though interest in the current exhibition series is high, it is surely heightened by the chance to watch Australia’s best-ever player, and applaud his progress so far.

Regardless of whether he is technically the ''first''.