ORONO, Minn. — Only one woman has ever played in the National Hockey League and that was some 30 years ago.
But there's one girl from Orono, Minnesota who's hoping to change that and she's already breaking barriers out on the ice.
Lola Lamparske is just 10 years old but she already plays for several teams – some girls and some boys, sometimes up to four games a day. But she's always the team's goalie.
"If your goalie has a good game, you're most likely to have a good game," said Lamparkse. "Then it matters to be the best."
She's played the sport since she was 4 and her older brother, who also plays hockey, is her inspiration. While her mother is Lola's biggest cheerleader.
"I spend a ton of time at the rink," said Amy Lamparske. "We feel so blessed and frankly, Lola works harder than anybody on the ice."
It's only fitting that her fierceness means she'll set a record for Minnesota – making her the first girl from the state to play in the coveted Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament.
It's Canada's most famous youth hockey tournament and has been for three decades. The tournament is played right inside the mall in the city of Edmonton.
"Every year, it’s almost shocking to see how good the little 10-year-olds can be," said Minnesota's coach Bill Hengen. "But when they put their hockey gear on and they go out there and you watch them, you realize you’re really watching incredible natural talent."
Hengen has been Minnesota's head coach for five years, plucking 16 of the best players from all over the state, including Minnetonka, Edina, Eden Prairie and Orono where Lola is from.
"She's arguably our top goalie that we saw in the tryout," said Hengen. "And she's really won our coaching staff over."
There are 14 teams in the tournament – seven from Canada and seven from the United States. Minnesota has never won it yet, but never before has someone like Lola been playing.
"My hope is that by the time she's done with high school, women's hockey is in a different place," said Amy.
So far, the Premier Hockey Federation is the only women's professional league. It started in 2015 and now it has seven teams, including the Minnesota Whitecaps who are based out of Richfield.
Manon Rhéaume is also still the only woman to ever play in the NHL back in 1992, something Lola hopes to do one day too.
"Sometimes it matters to me as a girl because if you play with those boys now, then you can come to their level and play at the same level when they go to the NHL," said Lola.
The tournament starts on July 3 and runs through July 9.