Shannon Szabados

Shannon Szabados (born August 6, 1986 in Edmonton, Alberta) is an ice hockey player for the Canadian national women's hockey team. Szabados also plays for the Grant MacEwan Griffins men's hockey team in the ACAC (Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference). Szabados was in goal for Canada's gold medal victory over the United States during the 2010 Winter Olympics. She was named the Top Goaltender at the tournament, and was selected to the Tournament All-Star Team.

Minor hockey
At nine years old, Szabados became the first girl to play in the Brick Super Novice Tournament held at the West Edmonton Mall. In 2001, at the age of 15, she was the first female to play in the Calgary Mac’s AAA midget hockey tournament, suiting up for the Edmonton Maple Leafs.

Junior hockey
When she was 15, she participated in the Mac's AAA Tournament in Calgary, squaring off against future NHL superstars Sidney Crosby and Zach Parise.

In 2002, at the age of 16, she became the first female to play in the Western Hockey League. Szabados played in four exhibition games for the Tri-City Americans. Szabados returned from the WHL to play in the AJHL. She spent the majority of her junior career in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, most recently with the Fort Saskatchewan Traders. Szabados led the Traders to the top record in the AJHL and came within a game of winning the AJHL championship against the Camrose Kodiaks. She was awarded the AJHL's Top Goaltender Award in 2007 for her efforts.

Matt Cook


One of her peers in the AJHL was Matt Cook. He was originally diagnosed with bone cancer in 2005 while playing for the Bonnyville Pontiacs of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Szabados had FLM, for "Fight Like Matt," inscribed on the back of her headgear as a tribute to Cook. In addition, her cancer fundraiser, Shannon Szabados Saves for the Cure helped raise nearly $10,000 in donations for cancer research.

International
Szabados made her debut with the Canadian national women's team in 2006, when she helped Canada to a gold medal at the 2006 4 Nations Cup in Kitchener, Ontario. Szabados posted a 3–0 shutout against the United States in the opening game. She finished as the tournament's top goaltender with a GAA of 0.50 while sharing netminding duties with Kim St-Pierre. Szabados also won gold with Canada's Under 22 team at the Air Canada Cup in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

She was on the 2009 World Championship team but didn't appear in any games. During 2009, she played in a number of the pre-Olympic games, including two wins over the U.S., including a 6-2 win on Dec. 15. She also played in the gold-medal winning game at the 2009 edition of the 4 Nations Cup, which Canada won 5-1.

She was a member of the 2009–10 Hockey Canada national women's team which won the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics and earned two shutouts, including the final game against the United States women's national ice hockey team. She was selected to the tournament all-star team at the Olympics, and was named top goaltender. She was selected to the tournament all-star team at the Olympics, and was named top goaltender.

Other
There was a movement by some in the Edmonton media to have the Edmonton Oilers consider signing Szabados. Devan Dubnyk came down with the flu prior to a March 2010 game with the Vancouver Canucks. University of Calgary Dinosaurs Nathan Deobald was signed as an emergency goaltender (backing upsfor starter Jeff Deslauriers), prompting many journalists to criticize the last overall club's move. Szabados told the Edmonton media that she was ready, willing and able to back up her local pro team.

Personal
Her parents names are Gary and Sharyl, and she has one brother named Matthew. She is majoring in physical education at Grant MacEwen University. Szabados was on the cover of Hello! Canada in March 2010. She is of Hungarian descent; her last name, Szabados, is an old Hungarian status term meaning "liberated", as it referred to a person freed from serfdom.

Awards and honors

 * Vancouver 2010 Olympics, Media All-Star Team
 * Vancouver 2010 Olympics, Directorate Award, Best Goaltender