November 6, 2008

More on the 2008 Women's Four Nations Cup

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Angela Ruggiero (Harper Woods, Mich.) will make history tonight as she takes to the ice for Team USA for the 206th time, thus surpassing Cammi Granato's previous record of 205 games played for the United States. The record-breaking feat will take place as the U.S. Women's Select Team takes on Canada at 7 p.m. ET in the 2008 Women's Four Nations Cup at the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena. The game will be available live via videocast at usahockey.com.

Ruggiero's career with Team USA began in 1995, when she was just 15 years old. Not long after, she became the youngest member of the 1998 U.S. Olympic Team that won the first gold medal ever awarded in women’s ice hockey at the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. She subsequently was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team that won the silver medal in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and, most recently, she and her teammates took home the bronze medal in Torino, Italy, in 2006.

Beyond participating in three Olympics, Ruggiero has played in eight International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Championships, including in 2005 and 2008 when Team USA captured gold medals. She was named the top defenseman at three consecutive world championships (2001, 2004, 2005) and again in 2008, and also earned top defenseman honors at both the 2002 and 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

In 205 total career games, Ruggiero has amassed 55 goals and 119 assists for 174 points. She is currently part of a women's residency program set up by USA Hockey in Blaine, Minn., for post-NCAA players. There, she is training with the 2008-09 U.S. Women's Select Team in hopes of making her fourth Olympic appearance in 2010.

Ruggiero graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in government. She was a four-time All-American and four-time finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. She won the award her senior year and was named one of the top 16 female athletes in the world by ESPN.com in 2004. She finished her collegiate career with 243 points (91 goals, 152 assists) in 127 games.

In addition to her extraordinary athletic accomplishments, Ruggiero is the founder and president of a girl’s hockey school; the author of “Breaking the Ice,” her inspirational autobiography; and previously served as the director of the New York Islanders’ Project Hope - an organization that provides young Chinese athletes with access to educational opportunities. In addition, Ruggiero appeared on the sixth season of NBC's 'The Apprentice' with Donald Trump. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in sports management from the University of Minnesota, while training with Team USA.

NOTES: Team USA opened Four Nations Cup play on Tuesday (November 4) with a 5-2 win over Sweden and is facing Canada tonight for the first time since the gold-medal game of the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Championship, where the United States garnered the world title with a 4-3 victory ... For more information, contact Christy Jeffries (christyj@usahockey.org)