Leonardo Genoni uses a hearing aid. The serious accident surprised even the expert.
Leonardo Genoni was hearing impaired at a young age. Pasi Liesimaa
Leonardo Genoni, the goalkeeper of the Swiss national ice hockey team, has a hearing aid. He has told the newspaper of his home country about it for the Tages Anzeiger.
Genoni has been using a hearing aid for almost ten years, but he got hearing damage as a teenager while playing in the Swiss second division. The opponent’s knee hit him in the head, and the impact had irreversible consequences.
The 38-year-old veskar’s hearing aid cannot be seen because it is inside his ear.
Genoni describes that without an aid he cannot hear, for example, birds singing and the jingle of keys. He had also forgotten what a newspaper rap sounds like.
Iltalehti World Cup hockey expert and goalkeeper Niko Hovinen says that poor hearing can also affect game performance between the goalposts.
– For a goalkeeper, the sense of sight is of course the most important, but you perceive the field a lot based on hearing as well. You hear what’s happening on the side of the goal and what kind of instructions the guys are shouting, says Hovinen.
A peculiar injury
The sense of hearing is also important in hockey, says Niko Hovinen. Rosa Bröijer
Kultalijona says that bad hearing can be a good thing in some cases. For example, it may be easier to concentrate.
– Now this is mumbling, but then you can at least shut out all the noise.
Hovinen is surprised by the way Genoni got his hearing damage.
– I myself have received quite a few nicks in goal-scoring fights, but I have never heard of someone’s hearing being damaged as a result. Most often they become a concussion or a neck injury.
The expert doesn’t think that the hearing aid is a joke in the Swiss dressing room, even though the hockey players sometimes throw some harsh humor behind closed doors.
– However, hearing damage is quite a serious matter, as it affects normal life quite radically. It’s a different matter if the player himself is joking about it.
Heavy hiccups
Genoni has saved Switzerland from victory to victory in the home games. EPA / AOP
At the age of 38, Genoni is still Europe’s elite goalkeeper. He has been Switzerland’s number one defender at the World Cup again.
Hovinen sees that experience only helps Genon with the goal.
– The goalie’s job is pretty much taken care of. A lot of it is also technical and physical, but I have always felt that the biggest part is in the main cabin. I think he has that side very well under control.
Genon’s playing exudes calmness, as he positions himself excellently and doesn’t do anything extra between the posts.
– That comes with experience. He must have thought through all possible scenarios a million times and found a working model for himself. Add mental capacity, and then it looks so easy.
Little big man
Genoni is the support and security of the Swiss team. EPA / AOP
The 182-centimeter Swiss can be considered a short goalkeeper. Hovinen himself is two meters tall and extremely covering, but in his opinion, feelings are not everything.
– Genoni doesn’t look small because he positions himself and reads the game very well. He is never really in the wrong place, but always one step ahead of the others.
Hovinen doesn’t remember coming across any other hockey player with as many league championships as Genon. The Swiss wonder man has seven of them.
With six SM league championships, Veli-Matti Savinainen can certainly come close.
– Seven is a really respectable performance. Winning even one is incredibly difficult. I don’t think there are many players in the whole world who have so many championships from any series, Hovinen muses.
Genoni has not agreed to be interviewed by Iltalehti – or many other international media – during the Games.
