After graduating from Harvard last spring, Ruggiero did not go straight to post-collegiate hockey, but decided instead to enter the working sector. After accepting a job with the commercial real estate firm Meredith and Grew, Inc., Ruggiero kept her hockey skills sharp by occasionally practicing with the Crimson.
In January, however, Ruggiero had a change of heart and decided to start her training for the 2006 Winter Olympics a little early.
“The biggest challenge after graduating is finding hockey that’s competitive enough to push you,” Ruggiero said. “At Harvard, you’re almost spoiled because you have all the facilities, a trainer, and are in the gym and on the ice like six days a week.”
In order to play every day on a competitive level, Ruggiero took a leave of absence from her job—to which she will return after the Olympics—and moved north to Montreal to play in the National Women’s Hockey League.
The Canadian professional league already boasted Jennifer Botterhill ’02-’03 and Lauren McAuliffe ’04, both former Harvard standouts and ex-teammates of Ruggiero, as well as a number of other college graduates who went to Canada to continue their careers in hockey.
Ruggiero will further hone her skills by practicing and playing up north until August, the start of the U.S. Olympic training that will then become her main focus.
After adding the history-making skate with the Oilers to her impressive resume, another gold medal at the Olympics—the most competitive level of women’s hockey—would cement Ruggiero’s role as one of the most accomplished athletes in her sport.
“She’s tough and she can do anything,” Stone said. “The sky’s the limit for Angela Ruggiero in hockey and post hockey.”
The Wisdom of Age
After skating with this year’s Harvard team during its practices, Ruggiero thinks the Crimson has a bright future as the season develops and reaches its climax.
The team has added four freshmen and lost three seniors—including Ruggiero—since last March, when it lost in the NCAA Championship to Minnesota. Nevertheless, Harvard’s ex-captain sees promise in this year’s squad, and it has earned her respect.
“They are skating more than ever and have amazing endurance,” Ruggiero said. “After beating Dartmouth, they are right up there at the top. They are playing with more experience than they have and taking chances.”
The feeling of respect is obviously mutual, as her former teammates continue to be impressed by all that Ruggiero has been able to accomplish in the hockey world.
“I think that this has certainly been awesome for [Ruggiero] to experience, and it’s certainly great for others to be able to appreciate just how awesome of a player she is,” Corriero said. “I always felt that as amazing as Angela was while playing with her, there was a whole new level that she could take her game to, but she never really could or needed to while playing in college.”
—Staff writer Gabriel M. Velez can be reached at gmvelez@fas.harvard.edu.