Genoni thriving for Team Switzerland at Olympics despite never reaching NHL

MILAN -- Leonardo Genoni is 38 years old. He is a seven-time Swiss National League champion and has won the silver medal with Team Switzerland at the IIHF World Championship three times.

But he’s never faced a shot in the NHL.

Yet he is Switzerland’s No. 1 goalie at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 and was between the pipes for each of its wins in the preliminary round against Team France (4-0 on Feb. 12) and Team Czechia (4-3 in overtime on Sunday).

Genoni has a 1.48 goal-against-average and .949 save percentage for the No. 5 Swiss entering their game against No. 12 Team Italy in a qualifying playoff game on Tuesday (6:10 a.m. ET; Peacock, ICI Tele, CBC Gem).

“He is a Swiss goaltending legend, without a doubt,” center Nico Hischier said. “I think he was already playing for Switzerland when I was a kid and watching them play. I knew him from seeing him on TV and now, playing with him, I’m getting the opportunity to know him personally. He’s an incredible goalie.

“I have a hard time scoring on him in practice; he reads the play so well that it’s like he knows where you’re going to shoot and he gets his whole body in position. He’s a really smart goalie and a really essential part of our team.”

Hischier’s recollection was solid; the 27-year-old was only 4 when Genoni made his debut with Zurich of the SNL. Genoni has been playing in Switzerland’s top league since 2003.

Playing his entire career in his native country, Genoni has played in Zurich, Bern, Davos and Zug. He has won the Swiss championship seven times -- with HC Davos in 2009, 2011 and 2014, SC Bern in 2017 and 2019, and EV Zug in 2021 and 2022.

He is also a four-time winner of the Jacques Plante Trophy (2011, 2015, 2017 and 2019), awarded annually to the best goalie in Switzerland.

In international play, Genoni has helped lead his small country to the silver medal at the IIHF World Championships in 2018, 2024 and 2025. He was named tournament MVP last year when he went 5-0-2 with a 0.99 GAA, .953 save percentage and four shutouts in seven games.

Despite his impressive resume, Genoni never managed to attract an offer from an NHL team. That dream lives more in the past than then present.

“I don’t know why I never got to play in the NHL,” he said. “There are things I don’t need to answer right now.”

Asked again about the same subject after practice Monday, Genoni said, “Things can obviously happen very suddenly, but I would say that I have never really been close to playing in the NHL at any point in my career.”

So, it remains somewhat of a mystery why he was unable to follow the path taken by Martin Gerber, David Aebischer and Jonas Hiller, three Swiss goalies who managed to establish themselves in the NHL.

But Genoni is single-minded at the Olympics. He wants to help take Switzerland as far as possible. He’s not interested in stirring up ancient history.

“Yeah, he may be [38] now, [but] he’s proved over his whole career that he is Switzerland’s best goalie,” defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler said. “He never played in the NHL but he’s had an outstanding career in the Swiss league.

“You see it clearly here on the international stage, he still plays very well. I’d say he’s going to be remembered as one of the best goalies in Swiss hockey history.”