- Angela Ruggiero
Infobox Person
image_size = 150px
name = Angela Ruggiero
imagesize =
birth_date = birth date and age|1980|1|3
birth_place =San Fernando Valley ,California ,United States
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = Olympic athlete,author
salary =
spouse =
website = [http://www.angelaruggiero.com/ AngelaRuggiero.com]
footnotes =
children =Angela Marie Ruggiero (born
January 3 ,1980 inPanorama City, California ) is an Americanice hockey defenseman. She is also the author of a memoir about her hockey experiences and a former contestant on the NBC reality show The Apprentice.While still a high school senior at
Choate Rosemary Hall , Ruggiero played on the gold medal-winning 1998 United States Olympic Hockey Team in Nagano, Japan. She was also a member of the silver medal-winning 2002 team in Salt Lake City, Utah.In her senior year at
Harvard University , Ruggiero won the 2004Patty Kazmaier Award as the top player in U.S. women's collegiate hockey. She graduated from Harvardcum laude in 2004 with a degree ingovernment .Ruggiero made several U.S. professional hockey "firsts" on
January 28 ,2005 , when she played for the Tulsa Oilers in aCentral Hockey League game against theRio Grande Valley Killer Bees . She was the first woman to actively play in a regular season professional hockey game in the United States, at a position other than goalie. (Erin Whitten skated ceremoniously for 18 seconds with theFlint Generals in 1996, andManon Rheaume tended goal for theTampa Bay Lightning in a pre-season game in 1992.) In addition, since her brotherBill Ruggiero also played for the Oilers, they were the first brother-sister combination to play professionally at the same time.Ruggiero was also credited with the game-winning goal in the shoot-out that won the
2005 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships for the United States against theCanadian national women's hockey team , winning the first gold medal ever for the United States at the world championship.While representing the United States in the
2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, Ruggiero was widely quoted for comments she made to theSports Illustrated website regarding the Canadian team's behavior during the preliminary round of the women's hockey tournament:"I'm upset that Canada has been running up the score, especially against the host nation... There was no need for that. They're trying to pad their stats... Canada is running up the score for whatever reasons -- personal, short-term." [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/olympics/2006/writers/02/13/ruggiero/]
Her remarks were criticized by people ranging from members of Team Canada to sports commentators, although others agreed with her statements.
Ruggiero is the author of a memoir, "Breaking the Ice: My Journey to Olympic Hockey, the Ivy League & Beyond", published by Drummond Publishing Group in 2005. The book details her hockey career, including her experiences with misconceptions about women's hockey and the challenges of being a female player in a male-dominated sport.
In May 2006, Ruggiero was selected from a field of twelve Olympians to be a candidate on the sixth season of NBC's business-themed reality game show "The Apprentice". The season debuted in January 2007. During Ruggiero's time on the show, many references were made to her Olympic and hockey experience. She was eliminated on the season's tenth episode, airing on March 25, 2007.
Reference
* [http://iviesinchina.com/project-hope/ Ruggiero's Project Hope]
External links
* [http://www.usolympicteam.com/26_1175.htm Angela's U.S. Olympic Team bio] ... with notes, quotes, photos
* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/olympics/2006/writers/02/13/ruggiero/ C'mon, Canada!:Team USA's Ruggiero upset Canadians running it up] SI.com, February 13, 2006
* [http://www.usoc.org/11520_46705.htm Ruggiero selected for 'The Apprentice'] , USA Hockey/NBC press release
* [http://www.nbc.com/The_Apprentice_6/candidates/bio_angela.shtml NBC Bio]
* [http://apprentice.tv.yahoo.com/trump/06/candidates/angela_bio.html Yahoo! Bio]
* [http://www.zoodango.com/people/profile/z0ilah1yt3dh0u Zoodango Profile]
* [http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=58069792 MySpace Website]
* [http://apprentice.tv.yahoo.com/trump/06/candidates/angela_videos.html#1215569 Angela's Apprentice Audition Video]
* [http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Ice-Journey-Olympic-Hockey/dp/1597630098 "Breaking the Ice" at Amazon]
*imdb name|id=2516809
*tvtome person|id=421481
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