The Columbus Cottonmouths will face off against Knoxville in their home opener on October 24, possibly backstopped by the one and only Shannon Szabados. This will be her first full season, but second run with the Columbus boys: she joined them for their playoff run last season.

Szabados has managed many incredible feats in her hockey career, but this post isn’t about rattling off her statistics from previous seasons — you can find a little of her hockey history here in a post I wrote last year on her opening night with the Cottonmouths — instead, let’s talk about what Shannon Szabados playing with men means for women’s hockey.

I’ve recently heard some rumblings that Szabados playing in a men’s league is detrimental to women’s hockey. Come again? The fact that a female goaltender is talented enough to do more than any other female hockey player has ever done is detrimental to the game? I beg to differ. If this were the case, Hilary Knight and Anne Schleper practicing with the Ducks and Lightning, respectively in the past couple weeks would also be detrimental to the game. Again, I beg to differ.

In no way do I believe any of these women are negatively impacting women’s hockey, if anything I see them promoting the talent and abilities that female hockey players wield. Hilary Knight has said she’d like to play in an NHL exhibition game and although most people would laugh at this possibility, I applaud her ambition and would love nothing more than for this to happen. The only way women’s hockey is going to grow and be recognized is if female players continue pushing the boundaries.

This brings me back to the assertion that women playing with men isn’t helping the women’s game. To this I say: The hockey world revolves around men. The only time female hockey players are noticed in the hockey world is during the Olympics and even so their game is constantly compared to the men’s. This means that for female hockey players to be noticed they’re going to have to get in the spotlight with male hockey players. It’s also common knowledge that men are stronger hockey players, it’s science. Ergo women like Shannon Szabados, who only face a challenge in the women’s game during the Olympics and other national match-ups against the U.S., need to play with men to be challenged. This statement in no way is meant to trivialize female hockey players but women’s hockey is still growing, meaning the Canadian Women’s Hockey League is also still growing. Unfortunately the league doesn’t yet provide the competition that some athletes desire.

Athletes, especially at the professional level, feed off of competition and are constantly trying to push themselves and break barriers. This is exactly what Shannon Szabados is doing, and by breaking these barriers she is shedding light on the talent that female athletes possess. Szabados is one of the faces of women’s hockey: she represents the talent and determination that can be seen in many female hockey players around the world.

In a society that is slowly changing but still hardwired to view men’s sports above women’s why should Szabados be criticized for pushing the limits and challenging this view? Women’s hockey is getting better as the sport grows, and Szabados is a shining example of how good women’s hockey and female hockey players can be.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

Advertisements