Canadian Olympic women’s team goaltender Shannon Szabados took a look at the new National Women’s Hockey League, but would rather play against men.

So she will return to the Columbus Cottonmouths of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) in October for a second full season, maybe this time as the starter in net.

“I definitely thought about it ... I wasn’t contacted directly by a team, but I was by the league,” Szabados said about the four-team women’s pro league. “I got all the information about the draft and signing up and, yeah, I read it all.”

Szabados, 29, was the gold-medal winning goaltender for Canada in the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Games at Vancouver and Sochi, Russia, respectively. She is currently stopping lots of shots at Perry Pearn’s 3 vs. 3 pro hockey camp at the Knights of Columbus Twin Arenas.

“It’s exciting for women’s hockey,” she said about the NWHL. “The girls will get paid and have a lifestyle. … I don’t know if it’s enough to fully live on, but it’s better than what we’ve been getting.

“I’m excited to see where the league goes. I may look at it down the road.”

Edmonton Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens’ wife, Jenny, who played college hockey at Cornell University, where she met her husband, recently signed to be one of the three netminders with the New York Riveters.

Szabados had a good experience last season with the Cottonmouths, who will celebrate their 20th season in 2015-16. The average weekly salary in the SPHL is about $325 with an apartment paid for, but Szabados, who has her own bobblehead doll with the team, could be making more as an Olympic star.

“I was happy where I was last year with my team and the amount of playing time,” said Szabados, who had a 3.12 goals-against average, a .907 save percentage and a 15-9-1 record. “We played 56 games in our league and I started 25 of them. Me and my partner (Andrew Loewen) almost split the games last year, but he’s not returning.

“It’s good hockey,” she continued. “A lot of our players are up and down between the East Coast league. As a goalie, I was seeing a lot of shots and getting lots of ice time.”

Apart from her Olympic team duties, Szabados has spent much of her hockey career playing with boys or men. She was the first female to play in The Brick Invitational novice hockey tournament when she was nine and the first female to play in the Mac’s Midget AAA hockey tournament when she was 15.

She played with Edmonton Oilers’ free-agent centre Mark Letestu, Minnesota Wild forward Justin Fontaine and Toronto Marlies (American Hockey League) winger Matt Frattin on the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

She also played in the Western Hockey League and the Alberta College Athletic Conference with NAIT and MacEwan University, and practised with the Oilers in March 2014 when they were waiting for Viktor Fasth to arrive from the Anaheim Ducks after trading for the Swedish goalie.

It was near the top of her bucket list to be in net against NHL players.