Angela Ruggiero — American Athlete born on January 03, 1980,

Angela Marie Ruggiero is an American ice hockey defenseman. She is a member of the International Olympic Committee and was a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team, medaling in four successive Winter Olympic Games, including one Gold medal, two Silver, and one Bronze. She competed in ten Women's World Championships winning four Gold medals and six Silver. She also authored a memoir about her hockey experiences called Breaking the Ice. She also was a contestant on the NBC reality show The Apprentice. She announced her retirement from USA's national hockey team on December 28, 2011 and recently received an MBA from Harvard Business School. Ruggiero was born in Panorama City, California, but grew up in Sylmar, and Simi Valley, California. On June 29, 2015, Ruggiero was announced as a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2015. She was inducted on November 9, 2015. She is only the fourth woman and second American woman to be inducted. She is also the only person to be inducted that was born in California. Angela is the All-Time Leader in Games Played for Team USA, male or female. 256 games... (wikipedia)

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.
It feels right. But it's emotional. Saying goodbye to anything you've done that long is hard.
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.
There were no women's players I knew of. I didn't even know women's hockey existed.
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.