Swiss goalie Leonardo Genoni makes a save against Austria during his record-breaking 13th IIHF World Championship shut-out.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / ANDRE RINGUETTE
It was lucky 13 for Switzerland’s Leonardo Genoni. When he blanked Austria in Wednesday’s 9-0 victory, he recorded his 13th World Championship shut-out. That broke a record initially set in the 1930s by James Foster of Great Britain and twice equalled by Czech stars Bohumil Modry and Jiri Holocek.
The 38-year-old has been a mainstay for the Swiss. This is his 12th World Championship, the win over Austria his 51st game. There are three silver medals in that time, as the Swiss developed into serious contenders during his years between the piping. He’s also played at three Olympics, two World juniors and two IIHF U18 events, while spending his entire career with clubs in his homeland and winning seven national titles.
Among his team-mates, there was no doubt that Genoni richly deserves his piece of history.
“It shows what kind of player he is,” said Christoph Bertschy. “A hard-working guy, relentless in what he does, for so many years now in the national team and so many years in the Swiss league too.
“Nothing comes from nothing. He’s working hard. He does what he has to do. Even with the success he’s had, he never quits. Even in practice, he’s always one of the hardest-working guys. He loves to be out there, he loves to challenge us too as players, and that shows who he is.”
And captain Roman Josi talked of his value to the Swiss defence. “Just the way he plays, he’s so calm back there,” said the Predators blue-liner. “It just gives us that extra security.
“He’s been unbelievable for us, every tournament I feel like he’s the best goaltender. We can’t say enough about what he’s done for the Swiss national team.”
Genoni is the latest in a long line of goaltending legends of international hockey. Here is a look at some of the other great names of the past.
The 38-year-old has been a mainstay for the Swiss. This is his 12th World Championship, the win over Austria his 51st game. There are three silver medals in that time, as the Swiss developed into serious contenders during his years between the piping. He’s also played at three Olympics, two World juniors and two IIHF U18 events, while spending his entire career with clubs in his homeland and winning seven national titles.
Among his team-mates, there was no doubt that Genoni richly deserves his piece of history.
“It shows what kind of player he is,” said Christoph Bertschy. “A hard-working guy, relentless in what he does, for so many years now in the national team and so many years in the Swiss league too.
“Nothing comes from nothing. He’s working hard. He does what he has to do. Even with the success he’s had, he never quits. Even in practice, he’s always one of the hardest-working guys. He loves to be out there, he loves to challenge us too as players, and that shows who he is.”
And captain Roman Josi talked of his value to the Swiss defence. “Just the way he plays, he’s so calm back there,” said the Predators blue-liner. “It just gives us that extra security.
“He’s been unbelievable for us, every tournament I feel like he’s the best goaltender. We can’t say enough about what he’s done for the Swiss national team.”
Genoni is the latest in a long line of goaltending legends of international hockey. Here is a look at some of the other great names of the past.
Jimmy Foster in action for Great Britain in the 1930s
Early pioneers
Genoni’s 13th shut-out took him past three players locked on 12. Two of them, Jimmy Foster and Bohumil Modry, were contemporaries who went head-to-head at the 1938 and 1938 World Championships.
The older of the pair, Foster, Glasgow-born and Canadian raised, crossed back over the Atlantic in 1935-36 and began playing in London. He soon got involved with team GB, backstopping the Olympic gold medal run in ’36 and playing in three Worlds from 1937-39. With a medal haul of one gold and two silver to add to that Olympic prize, he was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2023.
When he came up against Czechoslovakia in 1938 his opposite number was Bohumil Modry, 11 years his junior. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was a goalie duel with Foster and GB prevailing 1-0 in the semi-final in Switzerland. A year later, the roles were reversed, with the Czechs gaining a 2-0 victory over the Brits in the second group phase. However, while London ushered in Foster’s brightest years, the British capital played a tragic role in Modry’s life. Identified as a potential defector by the post-war Communist authorities, he was arrested before flying to England for the 1950 World Championship. A show trial sentenced him to hard labour in a uranium mine, shattering his health. He died in 1963, aged just 47 and was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011.
The Medal Collector
In 1972, they thought he was a lamb to the slaughter. But a stunning performance in the Summit Series made Vladislav Tretiak a goaltending superstar. He went on to dominate the game for more than a decade, winning a record 10 World Championship golds, plus two silver and a bronze. There was also the small matter of three Olympic titles with the USSR.
More than 40 years after he retired, many still regard Tretiak as the greatest goalie of all time. He was selected in the IIHF Centenary All-Star team in 2009 and was among the first to be inducted into the inaugural IIHF Hall of Fame in 1997. In 1989, he was the first European player to be inducted into the NHL’s Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
Genoni’s 13th shut-out took him past three players locked on 12. Two of them, Jimmy Foster and Bohumil Modry, were contemporaries who went head-to-head at the 1938 and 1938 World Championships.
The older of the pair, Foster, Glasgow-born and Canadian raised, crossed back over the Atlantic in 1935-36 and began playing in London. He soon got involved with team GB, backstopping the Olympic gold medal run in ’36 and playing in three Worlds from 1937-39. With a medal haul of one gold and two silver to add to that Olympic prize, he was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2023.
When he came up against Czechoslovakia in 1938 his opposite number was Bohumil Modry, 11 years his junior. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was a goalie duel with Foster and GB prevailing 1-0 in the semi-final in Switzerland. A year later, the roles were reversed, with the Czechs gaining a 2-0 victory over the Brits in the second group phase. However, while London ushered in Foster’s brightest years, the British capital played a tragic role in Modry’s life. Identified as a potential defector by the post-war Communist authorities, he was arrested before flying to England for the 1950 World Championship. A show trial sentenced him to hard labour in a uranium mine, shattering his health. He died in 1963, aged just 47 and was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011.
The Medal Collector
In 1972, they thought he was a lamb to the slaughter. But a stunning performance in the Summit Series made Vladislav Tretiak a goaltending superstar. He went on to dominate the game for more than a decade, winning a record 10 World Championship golds, plus two silver and a bronze. There was also the small matter of three Olympic titles with the USSR.
More than 40 years after he retired, many still regard Tretiak as the greatest goalie of all time. He was selected in the IIHF Centenary All-Star team in 2009 and was among the first to be inducted into the inaugural IIHF Hall of Fame in 1997. In 1989, he was the first European player to be inducted into the NHL’s Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
Kim Martin-Hasson at the 2025 IIHF Hall of Fame ceremony.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / MATT ZAMBONIN
The First Lady
Last year’s IIHF Hall of Fame ceremony welcomed Sweden’s Kim Martin-Hasson to the elite club. She became the first female goalie to be inducted thanks to her stellar performances for the Damkronor in the early years of the 21st century.
She shot to fame after backstopping an unlikely Olympic bronze in 2002, then stunned the world by stoning the all-powerful USA in a semi-final shoot-out four years later. Sweden’s silver in Torino remains the only time a European nation has split the North American powerhouses in women’s Olympic play. Martin-Hasson also played seven World Championships and is currently GM for Frolunda’s team in the SDHL.
This year, a second female netminder joins Kim in the Hall of Fame. Switzerland’s Florence Schelling played 15 years at the top, finishing with more games at the World Women’s Championship (44), more minutes (2,578:35), and more wins (21) than any other.
Last year’s IIHF Hall of Fame ceremony welcomed Sweden’s Kim Martin-Hasson to the elite club. She became the first female goalie to be inducted thanks to her stellar performances for the Damkronor in the early years of the 21st century.
She shot to fame after backstopping an unlikely Olympic bronze in 2002, then stunned the world by stoning the all-powerful USA in a semi-final shoot-out four years later. Sweden’s silver in Torino remains the only time a European nation has split the North American powerhouses in women’s Olympic play. Martin-Hasson also played seven World Championships and is currently GM for Frolunda’s team in the SDHL.
This year, a second female netminder joins Kim in the Hall of Fame. Switzerland’s Florence Schelling played 15 years at the top, finishing with more games at the World Women’s Championship (44), more minutes (2,578:35), and more wins (21) than any other.
Pekka Rinne in action for Finland.
The Shut-out Streak
Ostrava, 2015. The big question: how to score on Pekka Rinne. The giant Finn set a record for the longest World Championship shut-out streak, going 237:05 between Nick Bonino’s third-period goal in the opener against the USA and Yevgeni Kovyrshin’s marker at 45:09 of a shoot-out win over Belarus.
That record lasted a decade until Genoni – who else? – topped it with a run of 243:27.
Yet Rinne’s dominance did not deliver hardware. A 3-5 loss to the Czechs in the quarter-final sent Finland home early. Crosby-fuelled Canada took gold, Rinne had to be content with the Best Goaltender award from the tournament directorate. That followed his MVP status a year earlier as he backstopped the Finns to silver in Belarus.
Rinne retired from playing in 2021 after 15 seasons with the Predators. He made a brief return in 2024-25, with one game for Kiekko-Ketut in Finland’s third division. Fittingly, he won.
Ostrava, 2015. The big question: how to score on Pekka Rinne. The giant Finn set a record for the longest World Championship shut-out streak, going 237:05 between Nick Bonino’s third-period goal in the opener against the USA and Yevgeni Kovyrshin’s marker at 45:09 of a shoot-out win over Belarus.
That record lasted a decade until Genoni – who else? – topped it with a run of 243:27.
Yet Rinne’s dominance did not deliver hardware. A 3-5 loss to the Czechs in the quarter-final sent Finland home early. Crosby-fuelled Canada took gold, Rinne had to be content with the Best Goaltender award from the tournament directorate. That followed his MVP status a year earlier as he backstopped the Finns to silver in Belarus.
Rinne retired from playing in 2021 after 15 seasons with the Predators. He made a brief return in 2024-25, with one game for Kiekko-Ketut in Finland’s third division. Fittingly, he won.