Sports - Sports News

POSTED: Wednesday, Sep. 30, 2009

2010 WINTER GAMES: Blaine's Karen Thatcher closing in on Olympics dream

SEATTLE - When Karen Thatcher began her march toward the Olympics nearly 20 years ago, she did so wearing a pair of figure skates and the promise of a tutu.

It didn't take long for her to ask for a hockey stick and hockey skates instead.

"My mom was a figure skater when she was younger and she really wanted me to be a figure skater," Thatcher said. "She put me in figure skates when I was five, but my brother played hockey. After a couple of figure skating lessons she asked me how I liked it. I told her it was fun, but I wanted to know where my stick was. She got me a stick and all her dreams of me wearing a tutu went out the window."

This February at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C., Thatcher, 25, could make her dreams come true as a member of the U.S. women's hockey team. Thatcher, who lives in Blaine, recently made the first cut with the USA Hockey Women's National Team and is one of 23 players competing for 21 spots on the Olympic roster. The final roster will be selected in December.

On Wednesday, Sept. 30, she was in Seattle as part of a Local Heroes campaign sponsored by Comcast to support Olympic hopefuls from Washington as well as Special Olympians from the state.

"I can't even imagine it if I do make the team," Thatcher said. "After listening to teammates who have been there and other athletes who have been there, I can't wait. I think it's going to be indescribable and just an incredible feeling. Just thinking about it I get goose bumps."

Should Thatcher reach the ultimate stage of the Winter Games next year it will be a fitting final step in what has already been a successful career on the ice.

The Massachusetts native has helped the U.S. women's national team win consecutive International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Championships over the last two seasons, and won a Western Women's Hockey League championship with the Minnesota Whitecaps earlier this year. The dynamic forward also won a Canadian Women's Hockey League title in 2008 with the Vaughan Flames of Ontario.

She first pulled on a Team USA jersey when she was 18 as a member of the U.S. Women's Under-22 National Team.

"When I walked into the locker room and saw all the jerseys hung in the stalls it stopped me dead in my tracks," Thatcher said. "It was an absolute thrill. This is my fourth year now on the senior national team and every time I pull that jersey on it's a thrill and it's an honor."

Thatcher moved to Blaine about four years ago to play for the B.C. Breakers of the Western Women's Hockey League following a standout career at Providence College. Her mother and father moved to Blaine shortly after. Having the Olympics so close to home has made this opportunity even more special.

"My entire family has always loved the Pacific Northwest and when I had the opportunity with the team in Canada I jumped right on it," Thatcher said. "It was a chance to play hockey in an area that I love."

A serious arm injury a few years ago nearly derailed her hockey dreams and the subsequent surgery and rehabilitation that followed has also made her appreciate this opportunity. Thatcher missed out on a chance to try out for 2006 Olympic Team after having surgery to repair a torn ligament and damaged nerves in her left elbow.

"That surgery kind of kept me in hockey," Thatcher said. "My surgery couldn't be postponed anymore and I didn't get the opportunity to try out for the Olympic team. That's sort of been my biggest thing. Even if I don't make the team I just wanted the opportunity to try and give it my best shot."

Now she's a little more than five months away from making her dream of playing in the Olympics a reality.

"Little boys grow up dreaming of the NHL," Thatcher said. "Up until I was probably eight, I thought that was a possibility. Then you start to understand that your dream ends with the Olympics. And it's such a small group that gets to go to the Olympics. With the NHL there are a lot of roster spots out there. Here there are 21. It's such an incredible dream with such unlikely odds. For me to be this close right now sometimes I just step back and say wow. This has just been an incredible ride and I'm so fortunate and grateful for everything."