Goran Bezina

Goran Bezina (born 21 March 1980) is a Swiss former professional ice hockey defenseman who played most of his career with Genève-Servette HC of the National League (NL). He also played with the Arizona Coyotes in the National Hockey League (NHL), Medveščak Zagreb of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) HC Fribourg-Gottéron of the NL and HC Sierre of the Swiss League (SL).

Playing career As a youth, Bezina played in the 1994 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a team from Switzerland.

A product of Monthey-Chablais HC, Bezina made his debut in the Swiss top-flight National League A (NLA) for HC Fribourg-Gottéron during the 1998–99 season and was drafted 234th overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 1999 NHL entry draft. From 2001 to 2004, he played within the Phoenix Coyotes organization with three NHL appearances for the Coyotes and 204 contests for their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons.

Bezina spent most of his professional career with Genève-Servette HC of the National League A (NLA) and left the club after twelve years (ten of those as a captain) upon the conclusion of the 2015–16 season. In the course of his Genève-Servette stint, Bezina appeared in 639 NLA contests, scoring 384 points. In June 2016, he put pen to paper on a contract with Medvescak Zagreb of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), but returned to Genève-Servette on 31 January 2017. He eventually played 10 games with the team this year, tallying 3 assists. At the end of the season, Bezina was not offered a contract extension, making him a free agent.

On 1 September 2017, a few days before the start of the 2017–18 season, Bezina unexpectedly returned to Geneva on a 1-year deal worth CHF 750,000. He agreed to reduce his salary to play his 14th season with the Grenats. On 17 April 2018 Bezina agreed to a one-year contract extension with Geneva worth CHF 700,000.

On 2 August 2019 Bezina joined freshly promoted HC Sierre of the Swiss League (SL) on a one-year deal. On 5 May 2020 Bezina agreed to a one-year contract extension to remain with HC Sierre through the 2020/21 season. On 22 June 2021 Bezina signed a new one-year contract extension with Sierre for the 2021/22 season.

On 17 August 2022 Bezina officially retired from professional hockey.

International play Representing the Swiss national team, Bezina played at the 2006 Olympic Games and eleven World Championships.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1997–98 Villars HC SUI–3 24 7 5 12 — — — — — — 1998–99 HC Fribourg–Gottéron SUI U20 22 11 6 17 64 7 2 3 5 2 1998–99 HC Fribourg–Gottéron NDA 38 0 0 0 14 — — — — — 1999–2000 HC Fribourg–Gottéron SUI U20 2 0 1 1 16 2 1 1 2 8 1999–2000 HC Fribourg–Gottéron NLA 44 3 6 9 10 4 0 0 0 6 1999–2000 EHC Visp SUI–2 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2000–01 HC Fribourg–Gottéron NLA 44 10 10 20 44 5 1 1 2 12 2001–02 Springfield Falcons AHL 66 2 11 13 50 — — — — — 2002–03 Springfield Falcons AHL 64 3 4 7 27 6 0 1 1 0 2003–04 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 3 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2003–04 Springfield Falcons AHL 74 11 10 21 65 — — — — — 2004–05 Genève–Servette HC NLA 33 7 12 19 51 4 0 0 0 8 2005–06 Genève–Servette HC NLA 32 8 14 22 38 5 1 2 3 33 2006–07 Genève–Servette HC NLA 41 13 20 33 72 5 0 0 0 5 2006–07 EC Red Bull Salzburg AUT 1 1 0 1 2 8 4 8 12 12 2007–08 Genève–Servette HC NLA 48 11 25 36 46 16 4 6 10 16 2008–09 Genève–Servette HC NLA 48 11 19 30 97 4 1 2 3 2 2009–10 Genève–Servette HC NLA 47 7 19 26 34 20 4 12 16 22 2010–11 Genève–Servette HC NLA 50 8 22 30 70 6 4 3 7 29 2011–12 Genève–Servette HC NLA 50 7 20 27 58 — — — — — 2012–13 Genève–Servette HC NLA 46 10 21 31 40 — — — — — 2013–14 Genève–Servette HC NLA 50 8 24 32 81 12 0 4 4 35 2014–15 Genève–Servette HC NLA 40 2 14 16 24 12 2 3 5 12 2015–16 Genève–Servette HC NLA 50 6 13 19 73 11 0 6 6 8 2016–17 KHL Medveščak Zagreb KHL 56 4 11 15 57 — — — — — 2016–17 Genève–Servette HC NLA 6 0 3 3 2 4 0 0 0 8 2017–18 Genève–Servette HC NL 36 5 6 11 34 5 0 0 0 4 2018–19 Genève–Servette HC NL 42 3 5 8 20 6 0 0 0 6 2019–20 HC Sierre SUI–2 32 3 9 12 39 — — — — — 2020–21 HC Sierre SUI–2 46 6 17 23 52 4 1 1 2 12 2021–22 HC Sierre SUI–2 49 3 13 16 57 6 1 1 2 6 NDA/NLA/NL totals 745 119 253 372 808 132 19 47 66 221 AHL totals 204 16 25 41 142 6 0 1 1 0 NHL totals 3 0 0 0 2 — — — — —

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1998 Switzerland EJC 6 0 1 1 6 1999 Switzerland WJC 6 1 1 2 2 2000 Switzerland WJC 7 0 0 0 8 2001 Switzerland WC 6 0 1 1 43 2003 Switzerland WC 6 1 1 2 0 2004 Switzerland WC 7 0 1 1 4 2005 Switzerland OGQ 3 0 0 0 0 2005 Switzerland WC 7 1 0 1 8 2006 Switzerland OG 6 0 2 2 0 2006 Switzerland WC 6 2 1 3 4 2007 Switzerland WC 7 1 1 2 6 2008 Switzerland WC 7 0 2 2 6 2009 Switzerland WC 6 0 0 0 6 2010 Switzerland WC 7 0 2 2 16 2011 Switzerland WC 3 1 0 1 4 2012 Switzerland WC 5 1 1 2 29 Junior totals 19 1 2 3 16 Senior totals 76 7 12 19 126