Female Canadian goalie makes debut in SPHL

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The goalie for Canada’s gold medalist women’s Olympic hockey team made her debut in the men’s Southern Professional Hockey League.

Shannon Szabados, 27, had 27 saves, although her Columbus Cottonmouths lost 4-3 to the Knoxville Ice Bears on Saturday. She joined the team last week.

This was her first game since the Olympic women’s final Feb. 20. She did practice with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers on March 5.

Szabados played in exhibition games for the Western Hockey League’s Tri-City Americans.

No woman has played in an NHL regular-season game. Goaltender Manon Rheaume became the first to play in an exhibition game with Tampa Bay in 1992. Canadian star Hayley Wickenheiser played in men’s leagues in Finland and Sweden.