Angela Ruggiero


Favorite Things

Favorite coach growing up?
Without a doubt, Scott Plummer

Best friend in hockey?

My roommate during the residency program in Minnesota and fellow defenseman, Molly Engstrom and fellow Harvard alum Caitlin Cahow

Person you’d most like to meet?
Ghandi, Bono from U2 or Eleanor Roosevelt

Best Advice to a Young Player:

"Play as if there is a scout in the stands at every practice or game."

Favorite city to play in?
Detroit or Boston

Most memorable hockey moment?
Being a part of the 1998 Olympic Gold Medal Team and singing the national anthem in Japan

Favorite pastime during the offseason?
Spending time with family or traveling to other countries

Favorite player to watch when you were growing up?
Marty McSorley, Luc Robitalle, or Wayne Gretzky (anyone on the LA Kings from that era)

Favorite all-time hockey-related movie?
Slapshot

Favorite all-time movie overall?
“Finding Nemo” or “Shawshank Redemption.”

Favorite food?
Pad Thai

Favorite TV show?
Lost, The Office, Prison Break, and I think I have to include The Apprentice

Favorite concert?
Coldplay or U2

Going Top Shelf

What other sports did you play growing up?
I played soccer, basketball, track and field and lacrosse.

How important is it to play other sports?
I think being a well-rounded athlete helps you down the line when you decide what sport you want to specialize in. I do think that variety at all ages is important for both the mind (burnout factor) and body (cross-training).

What’s the best advice you ever got?
Play as if there is a scout in the stands at every practice or game. Pick a random person in the stands and pretend that you are trying out for his/her team. My dad told me this when I was 9. He said that if you gave 100 percent every time you were on the ice, you would be twice the player in half the time.

Who’s the toughest player to play against? Why?
Natalie Darwitz and Jenny Potter. Both are fast and shifty … you have to take the body and not watch the puck.

What amusement park ride best suits your personality?
Anything that goes incredibly fast without a lot of loops.

How often do you get recognized in public?
Once in awhile … usually in the airport and especially if I am wearing a suit like I did on “The Apprentice.”

What’s your most prized hockey possession?
My Olympic medals and the first jersey I ever wore as a Mite C player on Conejo Valley, Calif.

What was your first job?
I was a skate guard at a local rink. I got to clean the bathrooms after public skating as well.

Photos - Images On Ice
Issue: 
2008-11

Poll

Who is your favorite 2023/2024 NHL Rookie?
Connor Bedard
67%
Matthew Knies
7%
Brock Faber
12%
Logan Stankoven
5%
Logan Cooley
9%
Total votes: 75