Background Info

Insalaco Biography

Kim Insalaco was born in Rochester, New York on November 4th, 1980. Kim grew up in a family of four consisting of her older brother Dave and her parents Laurie and Dave. Kim has always viewed her brother Dave as an inspiration and as a motivator for Ice Hockey. Kim’s mother enrolled her in figure skating classes but decided quickly Kim’s heart was saved for something else. The following year Kim joined the Rochester Youth Hockey League and was the only girl in the entire league. At the age of thirteen Kim’s devotion to ice hockey became clearly evident when she made the Under 16 Nation Junior Girl’s Team, as the youngest member. In order further pursue her commitment to hockey and academics she attended Choate Rosemary Hall, a School in Connecticut at the age of 16. This was the first experience Kim had with playing women’s hockey, which led to the discovery of her athletic potential. Kim saw hockey as a means to getting the highest quality education, and decided to take advantage of it. Kim’s decision to attend Brown University was mainly based on the scholarship money offered to her and an ivy-league educational opportunity. Kim was originally recruited as a forward, but also performed as a defender while at Brown. During her Ice Hockey career at Brown, she held the position as a captain, and was also named team’s Most Valuable Player. While at Brown, Kim was a two-sport athlete competing in Women’s Varsity Ice Hockey, and Women’s Varsity Soccer. Kim’s parents hired Melissa McGrain to assist with her skating technique. Kim also utilized Melissa McGrain’s instruction as a youth and found her to be an extremely influential mentor. The skating lessons helped make Kim stronger at both positions, and nearly perfected her stride. In 2002, Kim put herself on a vigorous training schedule in hopes on making the U.S. Olympic team. She was cut just weeks before the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, and forced to decide which path she should take next. After graduating from Brown in 2003 with a 127 career points, Kim moved to Toronto so she could sharpen her hockey skills by playing in the highly competitive women’s leagues. Notice was taken of Kim’s improvement, and U.S. coach Ben Smith invited Kim to return to the national team in the states. Although Kim made the 2003 team the competition was cancelled due to a SARS outbreak in Beijing, China. This cancellation came as a devastation to both Kim and her team but she decided to continue training for the upcoming season. Kim made the NWHL Oakville Ice team where she continued to play when she didn’t make the US National team in 2004. Despite these set backs in Kim’s career, she did not give up. Kim perseverance allowed her in 2005 to make the US Women’s Ice Hockey team where her team won the Gold Medal in World Championships. This was the first ever gold medal for the US Women’s Ice Hockey since the first year of championships in 1990. This is Kim’s favorite hockey memory because she was not originally on the roster. She got a second chance as an alternate due to team injuries, giving her the opportunity to prove herself. In 2006 Kim Insalaco made the US Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team after an extensive tryout period. Kim played in the 2006 Olympic games in Torino, Italy where they were defeated only by Sweden in the semi-final game. Team USA came back and beat Team Finland to win an Olympic Bronze medal achieving Kim’s lifelong dream of becoming an Olympic medalist.