Posted on 01/31/2005 1:10:06 AM PST by ajolympian2004
Woman plays defense in men's game
By KELLY KURT, Associated Press Writer
January 29, 2005 TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Angela Ruggiero would be happy to put off her preparation for the next Olympics for another shot at playing in a men's professional hockey match.
The two-time Olympian became the first woman to make more than a token appearance at a position other than goalie in a U.S. men's professional hockey game, playing defense and getting an assist Friday night for the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League.
Ruggiero said Title IX, the federal law that bars sex discrimination in schools and education, and the Olympics had done much to advance women's hockey but playing in men's games is a unique opportunity.
``It always pushes you,'' she said.
Besides her individual feat, Ruggiero and her brother, Bill, the goaltender for the Oilers, made hockey history as the first brother and sister to play together in a North American pro game.
Seconds after being checked on her third shift of the night, Ruggiero responded by slamming a Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees player into the boards. She made solid passes, but she fit right in.
Restless and sweating following 6:33 of play, Ruggiero said she didn't want to stop.
``I wish I could play the whole game and come back tomorrow,'' she said.
She got her wish at the start of the third period when both coaches and the CHL agreed to let her return to the ice with the Oilers leading 4-0. In her last shift, she fired a pass to Jason Bermingham, who scored to give the Oilers a 7-2 victory.
Ruggiero finished plus 2.
Although she was in the starting lineup, the league originally limited Ruggiero's playing time to the first period because she was an extra on the Oilers' roster.
Ruggiero said her nerves had settled by her second shift on the ice.
``There was definitely a lot of contact, but it was all clean. That's hockey. It's a rough game,'' Ruggiero said.
Ruggiero was cheered on by a crowd packed with young girls taking advantage of free tickets. A portion of the ticket receipts benefited the American Red Cross tsunami relief fund.
But this was no exhibition.
Friday night counted in the standings, with the Oilers (22-15-3) entering the game three points out of first place in the league's Northeast Division.
``I think it's great for our momentum,'' said Oilers coach Butch Kaebel, who earlier said he had no reservations about signing Ruggiero for the one-time appearance. ``Her resume speaks for itself.''
The 25-year-old skater, who won gold and silver medals as a member of the 1998 and 2002 U.S. Women's Olympic teams, was the second woman to play in the league.
Former USA goalie Erin Whitten played four games in goal for the Dallas Freeze in 1993-94. She also skated for 18 seconds at forward for the Colonial League's Flint Generals in 1996.
In 1992, Canada's Manon Rheaume made history as the first woman to play in the NHL when she tended goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a preseason game. Another Canadian, Hayley Wickenheiser, became the first woman to score in a men's game, getting a goal in the Finnish League in 2003. Barbara Zemann debuted at goalie for an Austrian team last year.
Ruggiero grew up playing hockey with boys, and in recent years honed her skills by joining her brother on summer league teams.
``I'm used to getting hit,'' she said, a bright and intact smile belying her participation in games she says are ``a second quicker'' and more physical than the women's sport.
She has never broken a bone or tooth playing hockey -- her own, anyway.
At 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, Ruggiero is known for doling out punishment in women's games, holding Harvard's single-season record for penalty minutes at 74.
Ruggiero also ranked eighth in the country in scoring with 25 goals and 30 assists for the Crimson. But Friday night, she focused on traditional defense.
The tandem appearance with her brother was his idea after she skated with the team in practice during a December visit.
``There were years where we didn't even get the chance to see each other play because of our schedules,'' Bill Ruggiero said. ``The chance to get to actually see each other and play on the same team together is so special.''
When they were children in Simi Valley, Calif., their father at first signed up only Bill for youth hockey. But within a month, he was taking advantage of a family discount when Angela, and another sister, Pamela, also wanted to get on the ice.
Angela found her heroes on the Los Angeles Kings, rooting on Wayne Gretzky, Marty McSorley and Tony Granato.
``There were no women's players I knew of,'' she said. ``I didn't even know women's hockey existed.''
Good ole Italian ass-kickers, the both of 'em.
I'm so desperate for hockey as an Avalanche fan here in Colorado I had to post this story just to feel connected to hockey in some way again... ;)
Good ole Italian ass-kickers, the both of 'em.Italian-American, I should've said.
Understood.
What if their ancestors are from Sicily??? It would be Sicily-Italian-American, eh?
Actually... Sicilian-Italian-American.
I reckon so.
Yo! HT!!! git n here!
Now that's a healthy young lady.
ROLLER DERBY QUEEN by Jim Croce
Gonna tell you a story that you won't believe
But I fell in love last Friday evenin'
With a girl I saw on a bar room T.V. screen
Well I was just gettin' ready to get my hat
When she caught my eye and I put it back
And I ordered myself a couple o' more shots and beers
Chorus: The night (you know) that I fell in love with a Roller Derby Queen
(Round and round, oh round and round)
The meanest hunk o' woman
That anybody ever seen
Down in the arena
She were five foot six and two fifteen
A bleached-blonde mama
With a streak of mean
She knew how to knuckle
And she knew how to scuffle and fight
And the roller derby program said
That she were built like a 'fridgerator with a head
Her fans call her "Tuffy"
But all her buddies called her "Spike"
(Repeat Chorus)
Bridge:
Round and round, go round and round (3 times)
Well I could not help it
But to fall in love
With this heavy-duty woman
I been speakin' of
Things looked kind of bad
Until the day she skated into my life
Well she might be nasty
She might be fat
But I never met a person
Who would tell her that
She's my big blonde bomber
My heavy handed Hackensack mama
(Repeat Chorus)
(Repeat Bridge)
(Fade)
The Skates, in their final season, signed Erin Whitten as a backup goalie. She only played in one Skates road game, so I never saw her play -- but I did see the beautiful Manon Rheaume in the stands of the ancient Oakland Auditorium when her boyfriend (and future husband) Gerry St. Cyr came to the Bay with the Sacramento River Rats. I waited too long to approach her for an autograph -- she left the game before the fourth quarter.
To get my hockey fix, I've been playing a lot of EA Sports NHL 2004. I bought NHL 2005, and, to my horror, the illegitimate rodents at EA Sports got rid of the Create Player feature! Since 1996, I have been creating a player in the EA game, naming him after myself, giving him my characteristics, and played him with my San Jose Sharks. I don't know why they killed Create Player, but if isn't back next year, I won't be back either.
P.S. Read my tagline. I mean it. For God's sake, ESPN gets higher ratings for poker than they did with NHL regular season games. Arena Football is coming up now, and the NBA season is just getting interesting. I am hoping against hope that the San Jose Sharks will not fold on the verge of being a perennial contender, something Bay Area hockey fans have never had going back to the Oakland Seals of the 60's.
They can't get people used to life without hockey. They're cutting their own throats, Clint Malarchuk-style.
Hey, I just realized, I have had a brush with Bermingham, as well! He was with the Skates' South Bay rival, the San Jose Rhinos, one season. I came to watch an exhibition game between the Skates and the Rhinos, and Bermingham got a little too rough with Skates' enforcer Sasha "The Masha" Lakovic. Right in front of me against the glass, Lakovic (whose most notable NHL moment was hanging over the glass behind the bench and clocking a fan who poured a beer over the head of a Calgary Flames coach) threw Bermingham down, pounded him between the shoulder blades, and was ejected from the game.
The emasculation of men continues.............
Don't worry. As nice a story as this is, it's a stunt. Neither Lisa Leslie nor Mia Hamm nor Serena Williams nor Annika Sorenstam nor Angela Ruggiero truly believes they can compete with men in a physically demanding role on a regular basis.
The only threat there is to men in professional sports is females as goalies -- they are protected physically by the sport's rules and by nature, women are more flexible than men. Being a goalie requires quickness, but doesn't require skating speed. Women can't compete with men in other aspects of the game.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.