EDMONTON -- Fresh off her second Olympic gold medal and a practice with the NHLs Edmonton Oilers, goaltender Shannon Szabados will join the Columbus Cottonmouths of the Southern Professional Hockey League next week. The Cottonmouths announced Friday the team intended to sign the Edmonton goalie. Szabados would be the first female to play in the 10-team SPHL since its formation 10 years ago, the team said. Its been an eventful two weeks for Szabados, who backstopped the Canadian womens hockey team to Olympic gold Feb. 20 in Sochi. "When I got home from Sochi, I thought Id be hanging my stuff up for the summer, but definitely excited to get over there," Szabados told The Canadian Press. "Theres three guys that I played college with that play on this team in Columbus and theyve been bugging me for a couple of years to go there." "I had never talked to their head coach and he called me yesterday. Honestly, I thought he was calling to ask me if I would want to go there next year. It happened a little fast, but Im excited." Szabados made 27 saves in Canadas 3-2 thrilling overtime win over the U.S. to defend the gold in Sochi. She posted a 28-save shutout over the Americans in the womens Olympic hockey final in 2010. But the 27-year-old has spent the majority of her hockey career in mens leagues. She played for Sherwood Park, Bonneyville and Fort Saskatchewan during her four years in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Szabados was named the AJHLs top goaltender in 2006-07 after helping Fort Saskatchewan to a league-best record of 45-11-0-4. She then spent five years in Alberta mens college hockey with Grant MacEwen and then NAIT. She set a league record in 2012-13 for the lowest goals-against average (1.58) and her NAIT Ooks won their first championship in 16 years. Szabados stopped 30 of 31 shots in the final game. Cottonmouths captain Kyle Johnson, forward Jordan Draper and defenceman Andy Willigar are her former NAIT teammates. She suspects they paved her road to her first pro tryout. "Probably the guys had a lot to do with it," Szabados said. "It probably made the coach feel a little more at ease with the situation." Szabados will head to Columbus on Wednesday and will be introduced at a news conference the following day prior to a game at home against the Pensacola Ice Flyers. Winnipegs Andrew Loewen is the starting goaltender for the Cottonmouths "I am very excited to get a world-class athlete that has competed and has faced, high-pressured situations," Cottonmouths head coach Jerome Bechard said in a statement. "She won a championship with NAIT last year alongside Andy Willigar and Jordan Draper so I know she can compete at this level," Bechard said. "We are working on her immigration, and we are looking to sign her officially Thursday, where she will be backing up Loewen. "She will play when she feels comfortable and situated." The Cottonmouths are 23-22-3 and rank seventh in the league. Szabados participated in an Edmonton Oilers practice Wednesday. The Oilers were short a goalie on trade deadline day awaiting the arrival of Viktor Fasth from Anaheim. Szabados is grateful for that practice now because its the only time shes been on the ice since winning Olympic gold Feb. 20. "I havent been in the gym, I havent been on the ice, I havent been sleeping well," Szabados confessed. "Its been a whirlwind. I told (the coach) Im not going to rush into anything. If I dont feel comfortable I might not even play at all this year. "I want to go there and get on the ice and see how I feel. I still have to unpack from Sochi and pack for this. Im not too worried. Its only been two weeks." No woman has ever played in an NHL regular-season game. Goaltender Manon Rheaume became the first to play in an exhibition game with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1992. Canadian womens star Hayley Wickenheiser has played as a forward in mens leagues in Finland and Sweden. The SPHL also includes the Bloomington Thunder, Fayetteville FireAntz, Huntsville Havoc, Knoxville IceBears, Louisiana IceGators, Mississippi RiverKings, Mississippi Surge and Peoria Rivermen. Szabados is accustomed to joining male teams. She believes her former Ook teammates will help her settle into the Cottonmouths locker room. "With having those three guys that Ive played with and since this has happened, at least a handful have tweeted at me and reached out to me," she said. "The older Ive gotten, the easier the transition has been to a new team. Im honestly not worried at all. They seem like a good group of guys." Whoelsale China Colts Jerseys . Hamels threw seven sharp innings to earn his 100th career victory, Domonic Brown had a career-best five RBIs and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 12-1 on Saturday night to end a four-game losing streak. Whoelsale Colts Jerseys . -- Jose Bautista never worries about hitting homers during the regular season. http://www.cheapcoltsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-parris-campbell-jersey .Inter Milan and Napoli also advanced to ensure there will be at least three Italian clubs in the last 32 of Europes secondary competition.Spurs victory, secured by Benjamin Stamboulis 49th-minute winner, was overshadowed by a succession of pitch invasions that forced the referee to halt the game after 41 minutes. Bobby Okereke Jersey . Hes had three top-10 results this season and feels ready to put it all together and finally hoist a trophy at the top level. Khari Willis Jersey . As analysts we do the same thing, so here are some observations from week one. First there were two major upsets. I should say, major upsets in the eyes of the fans and prognosticators. MINNEAPOLIS -- The NBA has acknowledged the Minnesota Timberwolves were on the short end of an officiating error once again, and the latest one cost them dearly in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Less than 24 hours after the Wolves lost at home to the Mavericks, 100-98, NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn announced Tuesday that Kevin Love was fouled on his right arm by Shawn Marion in the closing seconds and should have been awarded two free throws. Officials Ed Malloy and David Guthrie were near the play, but neither blew their whistle. Marion was awarded a blocked shot on the play that allowed the Mavericks to hang on for an important road victory. Thorn said replays showed Marion did hit Love on his right arm while he raised up to shoot a jumper in the corner. The acknowledgement held little weight with the Timberwolves, who are trying to chase down the Mavericks in the Western Conference playoff race. "Its like moral victories," Love said. "You dont really count those. Its just something that well just get past." Its not the first time the Wolves have had to do that recently. They have now been told by the NBA three times since last March that officials made an error in one of their games. Last season, the NBA said officials shouldnt have ejected J.J. Barea from a game against Miami on March 4 after a confrontation with Ray Allen in the fourth quarter. Later that month, the league said officials erred in not calling Kobe Bryant for a foul on Ricky Rubios last-second 3-point attempt that allowed the Los Angeles Lakers to win, 120-117, on March 27. "Sometimes, its even more frustrating" when the league acknowledges the mistake, Rubio said Tuesday. "We cant do nothing. If they didnt call it, they didnt call it. Thats it. We dont care if they say it was a foul oor not.dddddddddddd. They didnt call it. We didnt have the chance to tie the game, and we lost that game." But Rubio, Love and Adelman all were quick to point out that the Wolves made plenty of other mistakes themselves to allow the game to get to that point. A lacklustre first half had them down by 19 points at halftime and 21 early in the third quarter, and the flat start ultimately cost them. "The first half, it was terrible," Rubio said. "We arent gonna blame the ref for that game. ... It was us who put us in that situation." After the game, Adelman expressed what has been a growing concern among the team this season -- that Love and, to a lesser extent, Nikola Pekovic arent getting the respect from the officials that they deserve. Pekovic, the teams bruising centre, often finishes the games with bruises on his arms and shoulders from banging in the paint. But like other heavyweights before him, including Shaquille ONeal and Yao Ming, his sheer strength can often make it difficult for officials to see him getting fouled. Love is off to an MVP-caliber start to this season, and Adelman said that its time for officials to start realizing that. "He got fouled," Minnesota coach Rick Adelman said. "I wonder what that would have been if (Dirk) Nowitzki, LeBron James, all the top players in the league -- a guy reaches on a last-second shot like that, instead of challenging it. Maybe they dont understand that Kevin is one of the top five players in this league. You make that call. But they didnt." As of late Tuesday afternoon, there was no indication that Adelman would get fined for his comments. And he wasnt interested in revisiting the subject after practice. "Its over with," Adelman said. "It doesnt do any good to think about it now." 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