By Jonathan Charlton
jonathan@peicanada.com

Fifteen-year-old Sam Walsh of Elliotvale recently returned home with a bronze medal after playing as the back-up goaltender for Team Canada in the Youth Olympics in Austria.
“It was an amazing experience, to go overseas and play with Canada. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Mr Walsh said.
ularly enjoyed earning a shutout in a 9-0 rout of Austria. While he only faced 16 shots, he still had to maintain his focus.
“It was my first game playing. Beating the home team in a shut out was really cool.”
At the start of the tournament the team was determined to win gold, but after losing to Finland in the semi-finals they had to change their mindset. They then defeated the United States 7-5.
“It was a nice way to finish, because it was better than not getting anything at all,” he said.
The start of the tournament was memorable as well. Even though they lost to Russia 4-3, the atmosphere was cool, he said.
“There were so many fans there. The atmosphere was just unbelievable, there were so many Canadian fans, and the announcers getting the fans going. It was crazy really, to be playing in that.”
Mr Walsh has been playing since the age of six and is currently a member of the Charlottetown Islanders. He was the only Islander on the Team Canada squad.
His whole family was able to make the trip to see him play and his mother, Paula Wilson-Walsh, said it was very emotional, almost overwhelming, to see her son be a part of Team Canada.
“It was absolutely amazing. It was thrilling to see our son play with Team Canada and the countryside was beautiful, it was just a tremendous experience and opportunity from beginning to end.”