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." Evan Engram Womens Jersey . In their first meeting for six years, the Frenchmen dropped serve twice in the first set, but Giquel broke Simon two more times in the second. Gicquel moves on to face sixth-seeded Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, who advanced with a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) win against wild card Pierre-Hugues Herbert, despite the Frenchmans 23 aces. Harry Carson Giants Jersey . He will just have to wait a little longer. Bester grabbed an early lead before Scotlands Darren Burnett took over and ran away with the mens singles lawn bowling final 21-9 on Friday. http://www.giantsrookiestore.com/Giants-...awrence-Jersey/. He looked very comfortable Wednesday night. Konerko had a big three-run double and Gordon Beckham homered for the second straight game, leading the Chicago White Sox to an 8-3 victory over the sliding Chicago Cubs. Eli Manning Giants Jersey . Mars announced Saturday that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will join him as part of his halftime show. Super Bowl halftime performers often have collaborators. Dexter Lawrence Jersey .com) - Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight was carted off the field in the fourth quarter of 16th-ranked Sooners 48-14 loss to No. MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Memphis Grizzlies turned up their offence in the second half, and the Charlotte Bobcats were too tired to keep pace. Mike Conley scored 20 points, Zach Randolph added 16 and the Grizzlies beat the Bobcats 111-89 on Saturday night. "From a team standpoint, I think we played well," said reserve centre Kosta Koufos, who had 11 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 10 boards. "We all executed on the offensive end. Defensively, (the bigs) were up on the screens, and our guards did a heck of a job in the passing lanes." Marc Gasol added 14 points and nine rebounds as the Grizzlies won a season-best sixth straight home game. Al Jefferson scored 17 for Charlotte, shooting just 7 of 17 from the field. Chris Douglas-Roberts finished with 15 points, his fourth straight game in double figures, but Kemba Walker had just 11 -- all in the first half -- on 3-of-13 shooting. Charlotte shot 40 per cent for the game. The Bobcats were playing their fifth game in seven days against some of the NBAs best teams, including Miami, Oklahoma City and Indiana. The fatigue showed through much of the game, but really emerged in the second half. "We lacked the energy that we needed," Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said. "The second thing would be the physicality to play them. They have bruising in there, and if you arent ready to fight in the paint, youre going to be in trouble." Memphis, which has won four of its last five, dominated the interior, outscoring Charlotte 60-46 in the paint and winning the rebound battle 51-40. "We just played a great team that had a great game plan for us," Jefferson said. "I think we kind of got away from what we do. A little fatigue played into it, too." Memphis broke the game open after halftime, outscoring Charlotte 59-45 in the final two quarters. Charlotte is a top-five defensive team, entering the game allowing 97.2 poinnts per game.dddddddddddd The Bobcats had held opponents under 100 points in 40 of the first 62 games. Memphis outscored Charlotte 27-17 in the third quarter as the Grizzlies connected on 11 of 21 shots. Meanwhile, Charlottes shooting struggles continued as the Bobcats hit only 8 of 25 in the period. Memphis took a 79-61 lead at the end of the third and extended it to as many as 26 as Koufos consistently got to the rim early in the fourth. Both teams then sent in the reserves to finish it out. "I thought (it) was a really good, professional win," Memphis coach Dave Joerger said. "I thought our guys were focused and ready to play. "I thought we played pretty well in the first half, and even better in the second half." Memphis carried a 52-44 lead into halftime behind 11 points from Conley and 10 from Randolph. Memphis controlled Jefferson, who entered the game averaging 31-plus points in his last four games. He had eight points at the break on 3-of-9 shooting. Gasol just kind of shook his head when asked about stopping Jefferson, who was 2 of 13 for only six points when Charlotte won the first meeting 92-89 on Feb. 22. "He has so many weapons, its not about what you can do," Gasol said. "You can make it tough on him a little bit. "Al is probably the toughest guy (to guard) because he has so many counters and different things he can do. Plus they run about 68 plays a game for him." NOTES: Memphis entered the g