Home » Meet MomsTeam's Hockey Expert: Angela Ruggiero

Meet MomsTeam's Hockey Expert: Angela Ruggiero

Four-time Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero brings a stellar resume to the position of MomsTeam's ice hockey expert. A native of Los Angeles, California and Harper Woods, Michigan, Angela graduated cum laude with a degree in government from Harvard College, where she was an NCAA First Team Academic All-American, Patty Kasmier Award winner (women's college hockey equivalent of the Hiesman Trophy), as well as one of the top eight student athletes in the entire NCAA in 2004.

A long-time player and star on the U.S. Women's Olympic Ice Hockey Team, Angela won a gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Games, a silver at the 2002 Salt Lake City and 2010 Vancouver Games, and a bronze medal at the 2006 Turino Games.

She was the first non-goalie woman to play professional men's hockey in North America, when she played for the Tulsa Oilers alongside her brother, Bill, which earned them a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame as the first brother-sister duo to play pro hockey together.

Angela helped the U.S. capture gold by scoring the tournament-winning goal at the 2005 World Championships, captured  back-to-back golds at the 2008 and 2009 World Championships, was voted the USA's Women's Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004, and was ranked the #1 female hockey player in the world by "The Hockey News" in 2003.

In addition to her extraordinary athletic accomplishments, Angela was a contestant on NBC Television's "The Apprentice" in 2007, is the founder and president of a girl's hockey school; the author of "Breaking the Ice," her inspirational autobiography; and the director of the New York Islanders' Project Hope - an organization that provides young Chinese athletes with access to educational opportunities.

In 2010 Angela was elected to a highly regarded position as a member of the International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission.

In her spare time, Angela enjoys traveling, music, coaching hockey and volunteering.