Szabados knows what to expect in Pyeongchang

Canada goalie going for gold No. 3, writes Mitch Goldenberg.

As Shannon Szabados prepares for her third Winter Olympics, she struggles to find a difference in her play now and her play in January 2010, the month leading up to her first time playing in the Games.

“I’m maybe just a bit more calm this time,” she said. “I have not changed a ton. With age, I have more confidence and composure.”

Szabados won a gold medal in nearby Vancouver eight years ago, then brought one home from Sochi in 2014. At age 31, Szabados is hoping to bring back gold from the other side of the Pacific in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

“I know what to expect,” she said.

Beginning with group play Feb. 11, there will be challenges launched by the Americans, Finns and Russians in South Korea to dethrone the four-time defending champions.

For Szabados, the competition will also come from Ontario and Quebec athletes pushing for the starting goaltender job.

In 2010, it was 31-year-old Kim St. Pierre who started the tournament in net for Canada with an 18-0 victory over Slovakia. The following week, 24-year-old Szabados had stolen the starting job and posted a 2-0 shutout over the U.S. in the gold-medal game.

With 28-year-old Genevieve Lacasse in her prime and upand-coming 23-year-old AnnRenee Desbiens ready for their opportunities, Szabados has a small margin of error in the group stage when Canada faces the other top teams.

With a 6-0 record and three shutouts in her Olympic past, Szabados will have the opportunity to keep her starting job. She was excellent in a 2-1 overtime win over the U.S. at a pre-tournament game in Edmonton last month. But if St. Pierre, a gold medallist in 2002 and 2006, lost the job to an up-and-comer in 2010, it can happen again.

Szabados said her style of play has evolved to account for age.

“I’m not 20 anymore, so I can’t afford to make crazy, acrobatic saves,” she said, citing post-game pain or exhaustion as the reason she tries to avoid desperation moves. “I have settled down a bit more. I don’t recover quite as well.”

Szabados has played in boys’ and men’s league throughout her career — from minor hockey to junior, college and professional. Around the time she began playing midget AAA hockey with the Maple Leaf Athletic Club, she realized how far she could go.

“Making that step while doing well and hanging in there in midget AAA was a real big jump,” she said. “It really helped push me, playing with bigger, stronger, faster and older players. My parents and I wanted to push my limits.”

She won the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s top goaltender award in 2007 after helping Fort Saskatchewan earn the league’s best record. Szabados played for the men’s teams at MacEwan and NAIT, and moved to the Southern Professional Hockey League in 2014.