Angela Ruggiero has long been considered the best defender in American women's hockey history. The long time star and Hockey Hall of Famer however, openly boasts about Caroline 'KK' Harvey, who is ready to pick up the torch.
Only two women's hockey defenders have ever been inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame. First it was Geraldine Heaney in 2013, then Angela Ruggiero in 2015. Since then, no women's hockey defender has found themselves honored by the Hall.
But the list of likely future candidates is growing. Some of those names, like Finland's Jenni Hiirikoski are at the end of their careers, while others, like USA's Caroline Harvey, are still getting started.
For years Angela Ruggiero stood as women's hockey's most decorated and revered blueliner. She had 14 Olympic and World Championship medals, including gold at both. Individually, she was named the World Championship Best Defender four times, and Olympic Best Defender twice.
This year, serving as a women's hockey analyst and broadcaster for NBC and ESPN, Ruggiero got to watch the defender who has picked up the torch, and at only 23, has already amassed a Hall of Fame worthy resume of accolades.
Harvey, who will be the first overall pick at the 2026 PWHL Draft, has seven World Championship and Olympic medals, including gold at both, she has won two World Championship Best Defender awards, and this year was the 2026 Olympic Best Defender and MVP, along with winning the Patty Kazmaier Award as the best player in NCAA hockey, where she won three national championships with Wisconsin.
Next month at the PWHL Draft, Harvey is the consensus top prospect and surefire first overall pick, a draft spot held by the Vancouver Goldeneyes.
Ruggiero sees how hockey has changed to fit players like Harvey. No longer are defenders simply expected to defend. Dynamic blueliners like Caroline 'KK' Harvey are now not only permitted, but encouraged and expected to jump into the play as offensive threats. They're also now playing in a time when body checking is legal. For Ruggiero, her physicality often resulted in a trip to the penalty box.
"I grew up in the wrong era," Ruggiero joked. "I used to jump into the plays, that was my game, but I'd get my wrist slapped. Or I would play physical and someone would bounce off me and I get thrown in the box. I'm so envious and jealous of today's defencewoman, where you can play physical, where they're finally letting women's hockey players play. And I know that we're working through the challenges of what's a penalty, what's not, with checking. But you can actually play physical. I think the fans love it. the players love it."
The evolution of the sport continues, and Ruggiero saw it first hand this season personified by Harvey at the Olympics and leading dominant University of Wisconsin team.
"The players are adjusting, that you can jump into the play and be physical, and that's why I think Wisconsin was so good, and why then Team USA was so good," said Ruggiero. "You have this second and third wave, you have an expectation where the forwards are going to rotate and now there's not just a two or three person rush, it's a 4 person rush."
Harvey is one of most mobile, dynamic players in the sport. She's already considered by most as the best defender in the world, and us arguably the best player in the game at any position.
"You can see her entire skill level put to use in today's system," said Ruggiero. "The old system that I was in, you had to stand on the blueline, wait for puck, try to get a nice tip in, but you weren't jumping in. I love it from a broadcaster perspective and am envious from a defender perspective, this is a beautiful system to play in. I love it. It's dynamic, I think that it benefitted the Americans, it definitely benefitted Wisconsin."
"And then you have a player like KK Harvey that walks into that. Because I saw her four years ago, I covered her then, I covered her in the NCAA over that period of time and she really came into her own this year. I mean, she owned the puck. She jumped into the play. It wasn't just the goals, she had the most shots on goal. She was shooting the puck, she was getting it to the net, creating opportunities. And she forced to play D to get back. She had the kind of jets to turn around and get back and play good defense and positionally know where to be. It's just fun to watch because I think the game has evolved and when you have a player like KK Harvey who's a defender getting all those accolades, it just brings more eyeballs to the game."