Szabados wants more work in Cottonmouths’ goal
The door is open for Shannon Szabados to be the Columbus Cottonmouths’ No. 1 goaltender this season.
With Winnipeg’s Andrew Loewen now retired, Szabados will be the only goalie at the Cottonmouths’ training camp with previous experience in the Southern Professional Hockey League.
The 29-year-old from Edmonton posted a 15-9-1 record as a rookie last season, along with a .907 save percentage and a goals-against average of 3.12.
“I’m pretty confident either way I’ll get a good amount of ice time, but definitely I’d like to play a little bit of a bigger role this year with a year of experience,” Szabados said.
“I’m a lot more confident going into this season with how I played last year. I don’t know how established you can be after one year, but hopefully I’ll build off that.”
Szabados signed a oneyear contract for a second season in the eight-team men’s pro league. The Cottonmouths, based in Columbus, Ga., will play 56 regularseason games starting Oct. 23, plus playoffs.
The league’s average weekly salary is between $300 to $400 with some living expenses also covered.
Cottonmouths coach and general manager Jerome Bechard of Regina has invited two other goalies to training camp — Joel Danyluk of Yorkton, Sask., and Brandon Jaeger of Champlin, Minn. He’s open to giving Szabados more than the 25 starts she had last season.
“I have a couple young guys coming out of college,” Bechard said. “She’s proven herself. She’s only the proven commodity I have right now.
“She’s going to get the same amount of ice time, if not more.”
The 5-foot-8, 148-pound goalie earned her first professional win — and the Cottonmouths’ first victory of last season — with a 34-save effort Nov. 21 in a 5-4 overtime win over the Fayetteville FireAntz.
Szabados was named the SPHL’s player of the week Dec. 2 and March 24. The Cottonmouths released a Shannon Szabados bobblehead doll in January.