Angela Ruggiero Quotations

It feels right. But it's emotional. Saying goodbye to anything you've done that long is hard.

That's the awesome part. Little girls now have a chance to look up and see women playing soccer, basketball, softball and now hockey - and know they can win a gold medal, too.

There were no women's players I knew of. I didn't even know women's hockey existed.

I find that I've tried to become a better hockey player every year and not just hold on. At the same time, I've also made it a point to increase or grow in some other area of my life. If I were just playing hockey, I would probably be done with the sport.

I still love hockey. It's just I'm at a different stage of my life and I think I'm just ready to grow in other ways outside of just being a hockey player.

I'm getting more towards that point where I'm ready to kind of pass the torch on and see the next generation succeed behind me.

I'm in the perfect position. It's a sports position and a political position where I can help better the lives of athletes around the world.

I'm able to give a voice to the athletes around the world - use my degree for something other than the power play.

I'm not playing for lack of options. But this is such a fleeting thing. When I'm done, I'm never, ever going to be able to come back to it. I know Vancouver is my last go.

In a way, by being fully committed to the Olympic movement globally, I'm better able to promote women's hockey and talk about women's hockey and put a face to women's hockey, to all the IOC members.

The Women's Sports Foundation holds a unique position in developing opportunities for girls and women of all abilities to be active whether recreationally or competitively, and I'm excited to help lead the organization to impact even more lives. It is an honor to continue to build the legacy created by Billie Jean King and all of our leaders.

It's not about, 'Let me play as long as I can so I don't have to grow up.' It's about, 'Let me play as long as I enjoy it,' and when it's time to step away, I can step away gracefully even if I'm still good enough to keep playing, because I'm ready for that next phase.

The more I've done work with the IOC the more I've come to realize I'm really excited about this, the work that I'm doing and the impact that I can have if I'm fully committed to it.

As a veteran, you're a little more poised on that mental side. But athletically, I didn't really think I could get better.

Right now, I'm standing behind the glass, and I guess that's a metaphor for how my life will be going forward.

I look at myself, and how much I've gotten just because I play a sport well.

I wish I could play the whole game and come back tomorrow.

But inside of me I knew that the Olympics were still there. I was still young enough. I knew that once I transitioned out of hockey, it would be really hard to go back.

I feel honored and privileged to have represented the USA program over the past 16 years. USA Hockey will always be a part of me and I will cherish the experiences and memories with this team.

We're mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted right now. The stress -- we had players waking up and throwing up.

We're excited to win the medal. But I think maybe in the back of our heads, we wish we were playing in the next game.

We know what kind of class we have.

We won't face the same pressure against the Swiss that we'll face against a Finland or a Canada. But I expect a battle. It is the Olympics. Hopefully, every country brings their best game.

Shari's a player you see who has made tremendous strides in the last couple of years. She was always a good college goalie, but there are a lot of good college goalies out there. She's worked hard. She's in peak shape. Coach couldn't ask for more. A lot of it for her is getting experience between the pipes because that position is so mental.

She's the embodiment of a true Olympic athlete. I saw firsthand how hard she trained. I can't say enough about her and how she improved her play.

She's honest. Yes, she will say anything. I think it's funny, though.

She's one of the toughest girls I've ever met. When she gets on the ice, she throws her weight around. She's a tough competitor.

She's always smiling and ready to do anything asked of her. She's only going to get better from here. We let her down in her first game against Canada, but she had the right attitude to bounce right back. To have someone like her who has been on the bubble for so long, it brings a smile to your face.

She played like I expect her to play -- perfect.

Obviously, we'd love to be ahead the whole time, but if we're down by one or two goals against a great team like Sweden or Canada, we'll see it's OK. We were able to come back. For me, I'm happy it happened. We stayed composed on the bench. We didn't throw our hands up in the air.

I live to play Canada. It's one of the biggest rivalries in the sport because it always comes down to the U.S and Canada.

It hurts right now. It stings. I'm in shock. There's a lot of emotions going through my head.

It hurts right now; it stings. I'm in shock. There are a lot of emotions going through my head. But if you're talking long term, yeah, maybe the rest of the world will see there are other teams out there that can win and Sweden and Finland are those teams right now. Maybe that'll give hope to some other European teams to put more money into their programs and make this sport really global.

It hurt, it stings, I'm in shock. There are a lot of things going through my head.

I think all the teams have raised the bar. It's a much better game today. If I was the same player who tried out in '98 today, I wouldn't make the team.

I think Americans expect gold. You're idolized when you win a gold medal. We really put our lives on hold for this long. We've got a lot inside of us right now.

I think it's sad. For all of Canada to be upset with the United States for something that didn't happen...

Right now, while I'm playing, no. I want to make it to the final and win a gold. But for the sport, yeah, I would love to see it.

My sister is stuffing the ballot box. I know I'd be fired. I'd expect it. But you know, that would be an interesting career move.

I'm so excited to be back at my school and see so many familiar faces. It really feels like I'm home.

You don't expect to go to a shootout. We didn't even know the protocol. We wanted to win the game flat-out.

We don't think about it (the big game with Canada). We try not to if it suddenly flips into our head.

We know this is sort of their gold-medal game. If they beat us, they'll have a higher medal than they've ever had. ... We work on focus in sports psych, so this is the time we need it.

We didn't bury the puck when we needed to.

When you look back from your Olympic experience, you never want to question whether you could have done more. The one thing you can control is your off-ice preparation.

I have enough muscle already. Now I want to use it in more efficient ways.

We love her, and she is a great athlete. She's probably going to be on this team in a few years.

We were excited to win the game and excited to win a medal, but I think maybe in the back of our heads we wished we were playing (against Canada). But we're still proud of ourselves.

We lost in the semifinals, but we still wanted to bring home a medal to the United States.

Before, I was the baby of the team and now, even though I'm not the oldest, I have more experience than almost anyone, ... I'll never be able to fill their shoes, but I know my role has changed a little bit. Their legacy has inspired every single person on this team.

At the beginning of the Games, we were looking to win one color and, in the end, we're taking home a different one.

The resilience of this team, the character we showed in coming back and beating Finland yesterday, we're all proud of ourselves in the fact that we're bringing the U.S. home a medal, It was great for us to start off strong, and I think we scored like two minutes, 30 seconds into the game, a good testament to the team that we were really refocusing and really went hard right from the beginning.

I've never played in a consolation game in my life. This is really going to test the character of our team. As hard as it is right now to think about it, by game time I think we'll be ready. People can see past the color of a medal and see what we did to earn it.

I've never played in a consolation game in my life.

I've never played a consolation game in my life. We expected to be playing for a gold medal.

That's who the book was written for. It's awesome to go on the road and be able to influence so many young girls. The team is so excited to be able to do that and I take it as an honor.

That's women's hockey. Some refs think that if somebody falls down, you've got to call it. Part of that is the talent differences, because things look different to the refs when two teams are playing at two different speeds. Hopefully they're not doing that when we play Canada.

This has been a long time in the making for our game. They say there's no parity in women's hockey. Well, now you know better. It doesn't make me happy, but that's hockey.

This has been a long time in the making for our game.

You can't look at it as a consolation prize. At the beginning of the tournament, we said we wanted to bring home one color, and we're bringing home another, but we're still proud.

You can't look at it as a consolation prize.

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.

It was really important for her to play at this tournament, get the nerves out. That's the biggest thing for the goalie. Had they scored earlier in the game when they had the chances, it might have been a different ballgame.

It's a really tough day for everyone: We're really excited, but we're also distraught that someone we're so close to won't be with us. Shelley's been a part of this program since 1992, and with that she has brought so much experience and leadership to the team. We're definitely going to miss her and everything she did for the team, both on and off the ice.

It's taken away from hockey. That wasn't hockey today, in my opinion. That was power play and penalty kill. And it brought me back to last Olympics, when it was no rhythm. It was power play and penalty kill. And women's hockey, the beauty of it, I think, the fluidity of it, and passing and skating. When you have power play and penalty kill, that's all systems ... so we haven't had that much opportunity to work that.

It's hard when all the pressure is in their end, and then they finally break out of it. That's when bad things can happen. We didn't play our best game, and we paid the biggest price for it.

It's hard to build the game when it's being played like this. I'm here to promote our game on the biggest stage it's got, and it's not the best hockey in the world when the teams are so different.

It's happened two Olympics in a row. Will it be three?

They are the reason I play hockey. I play hockey to beat Canada.

After they scored, we all reminded ourselves what we had dedicated our lives to and settled down and played like we knew we could.

I'm really happy we've had these close games, because Canada hasn't had these types of battles.

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.

I remember every single one of these kids.

I love the physical part of the game, and I don't back down from it. I've been in fights in beer-league games back home. But the rules are there for a reason, especially when you're playing a team that's not as big and strong as you are.

I know I'm going to play next year, but four years is a long time. I just don't know whether I can do it yet.

Cammi is USA Hockey, really. Every single player on our roster has learned something from Cammi Granato and she'll leave that legacy whether she's here or not.

Cammi and Shelley set the foundation for the program. When I came in, I idolized them, but it was time to move on. All I know is, I'm going to miss them tremendously.

I came here to win a gold. That's what I wanted. But am I proud of our team? Yes.

I came here to win a gold medal. But am I proud of our team? Yes. We showed a lot of character after hitting rock bottom after the loss to Sweden. No one expected to be playing for the bronze.

You know that little girls and boys are watching and will try to emulate you. We're all role models.

You could see when she scored, she wasn't celebrating. That's just how she is. She's a goal-scorer, in hockey, in soccer and in lacrosse. That's just what she does.