Photo: Mark Bradford/Wulos

At Friday’s Rookie Camp, Washington Capitals prospect Nathan Walker was asked what the reception was like in Australia after he became the first countryman ever to be drafted into the NHL.

“It wasn’t as big [a deal] as I guess I was expecting,” Walker said to the media, captured by Monumental Network. “As you know, hockey’s not as big down there. I wasn’t making front pages or anything like that. But yeah, I had a couple of gigs and a couple of photoshoots.”

When asked what his weirdest photoshoot experience was, Walker dropped the single best nugget of his young career.

“I wouldn’t say the weirdest one, but the best one was the one where I got to take photos with kangaroos and koalas,” Walker said with a big smile. “That was pretty cool. They were all hoppin’ around everywhere. It was pretty good.”

[Emphasis added because kangaroos “hoppin’ around everywhere “demands to be emphasized.]

I needed to know moar. I needed to see moar. I tracked down Walker’s Australian representation and begged for proof.

Prepare for some of the greatest hockey photos ever to hockey: Aussie edition.

The photos were shot in Northwest Sydney at the Koala Park Sanctuary. Walker was given a private tour to meet and feed several Koala Bears and Eastern Grey Kangaroos. He then took photos with Mark Bradford of Wulos.

Bradford was generous enough to share his ten best photos of his shoot with RMNB. Check it out.

Additional Photos

SOON.

All photos by Mark Bradford/Wulos

Thanks to Caps PR and Rick of ImpartISE for help getting the photos and props to The Washington Post’s Alex Prewitt who mentioned these quotes from Walker first.