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M H J O N L I N E . C O M LYNN Photos / Lisa Olson Teske, Lynn Olson D ear Lynn Olson, Thank you… There are plenty of words and sentiments to follow that initial phrase of gratitude. "Thank you for bringing girls' hockey to associa- tions across the state of Minnesota, and eventually across the country." "Thank you for bringing girls' varsity hockey and the high school state tournament to Minnesota." "Thank you for helping put women's Division I, II and III hockey on the map. Thank you for adult women's hockey leagues and for a women's team in the Olympics." "We're not sure all those 'thank yous' capture all you did." Lynn, a Richfield native, was recently recognized by the National Hockey League with the 2020 Lester Patrick Trophy, awarded for her outstanding service to hockey in the United States. The reasons are tangibly outlined in the 'thank yous' above, but really, we want to again thank Lynn for… …BEING A PLAYER Lynn was 29 years old and a mom to a 2-year-old and newborn daugh- ter when a broomball teammate asked her if she'd like to play hockey. Having grown up skating outdoors at the local park, she figured playing a game on blades might be just as fun. So, she bought herself a pair of hockey skates and began skating on a senior women's team. She was having a blast. And she wanted her own daughters, Lisa and Becky, to have that same experience. The only problem? In the late 1980s, there wasn't much by way of girls' hockey. "My oldest started on the Washburn youth program and she was one of two girls on their team," recalled Lynn. "I knew I wanted to try and help figure out how to make girls' hockey more accessible to girls." "It's funny, I didn't really know that it wasn't normal for girls to play hockey because my mom was playing as far back as I could remember," added Lisa, now a mom to three hockey-playing girls of her own. "I would go and watch her and her teammates play, and I immediately thought, 'I want to play too.' "I played with a group of girls outside at the Minneapolis Parks and Rec but there really wasn't a whole lot of us, or a whole lot of options for an all-girls organized team at that point. My parents searched far and wide for a girls' team until we finally found one in Stillwater. There was a lot of time driving back and forth from Minneapolis up there to play, but I loved it." …BEING A LEADER Beyond being a hockey-playing hockey mom, Lynn found a calling in working to make girls' and women's hockey available across the state. She first started with the women's league, getting the then Minnesota Women's Hockey League (now WHAM) as an official affiliate with Minnesota Hockey (then MAHA) in 1986. That lobbying earned her the title of Women's Hockey Director with Minnesota Hockey, a posi- tion she held until 2007. The growth and existence of girls' and women's hockey can be largely attributed to Lynn Olson b y J E S S I P I E R C E 24 Lynn's twin granddaughters, Avery and Zoe, suit up for the Prior Lake 10U girls' team.