She was also, for much of her career, making financial sacrifices that most people in her position never had to think about. Twenty years of elite international hockey for the United States, four Olympic medals, multiple World Championship titles, and through most of it the pay gap between what she earned and what male players earned was not a footnote — it was the reality she operated inside every single day. She spoke about it publicly and plainly. In 2005 she became the first American woman to play in a men's professional hockey league, suiting up for the Tulsa Oilers not as a publicity stunt but as a competitor who belonged on the ice. After retiring she earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and founded the Sports Innovation Lab, a research and analytics company built around understanding how modern fans engage with sport.

She was elected by fellow athletes to serve on the IOC Athletes Commission, a distinction that says something different than an appointment would. Three Hall of Fame inductions mark the official record. What they don't capture is the arc from a girl in Simi Valley chasing her brother onto the ice to one of the most influential voices in the business of sport. She has never once treated a closed door as a final answer.