Denis Godla (born 4 April 1995) is a Slovak professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

who currently playing for

HC Slovan Bratislava Hockey Club Slovan Bratislava () is a professional ice hockey club based in Bratislava, Slovakia. In 2012, it left the Tipsport Liga (hockey), Slovak Extraliga and joined the international Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). In 2019, it returned to ...

of the

Slovak Extraliga The Slovak Extraliga, known as the Tipsport liga since the 2025–26 season for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level ice hockey league in Slovakia. From 2018–19 to 2020–21, the league included one or two teams from Hungary. Teams fro ...

. Godla was Slovakia's starting goaltender at the

2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 39th edition of Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, played from December 26, 2014 to January 5, 2015. It was co-hosted by Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and organized by ...

where he led the team to a bronze medal, also being named in the tournament's All-Star team, the tournament's best goaltender, and overall tournament MVP. He won the 2018 Spengler Cup with KalPa

Playing career

KHL

Godla was called up for four games during the 2014-15 KHL season with

. He struggled during his time there, posting a 0–3–0 record with a .839 save percentage and a 5.17 goals against average.

Mestis

On September 28, 2015 Godla signed a one-year contract with

Kokkolan Hermes Kokkolan Hermes is a Finnish semi-professional ice hockey club based in Kokkola that plays in the Mestis, the second-tier men's league in Finland after Liiga. The club was founded in 1953 and plays their home games at the Kokkolan jäähalli, w ...

of the Finnish

Mestis Mestis (from , meaning 'Championship series', stylized as MEST1S) is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona ('First Division ...

league.

International play

Godla was first chosen to represent the

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

at the

2013 IIHF World U18 Championships The 2013 IIHF U18 World Championship was the 15th IIHF World U18 Championship and was hosted in Sochi, Russia. This was also a test event for the facilities to be used in the 2014 Winter Olympics. It began on 18 April 2013 with the gold medal ga ...

. His first game internationally was against

Team Canada Canadian National Team or Team Canada may refer to: Canada at multi-sport events * Canada at the Olympics ** Canadian Olympic Committee * Canada at the Paralympics ** Canadian Paralympic Committee * Canada at the Commonwealth Games * Canada at ...

, where he let in four goals on 35 shots in a 4–1 loss. Godla would suit up twice more in the tournament, a 4–1 loss to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and a 6–3 loss to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, where he was pulled in favour of Dávid Okoličaný. Godla went on to represent

again at the

2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship The 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 39th edition of Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, played from December 26, 2014 to January 5, 2015. It was co-hosted by Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and organized by ...

. The Slovaks got off to a rough start, losing 8–0 to the powerhouse Canadians, with Godla once again being pulled for Okoličaný. The following day Godla picked up his first international win in a 2–1 upset of defending champion

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Godla continued to impress, making 41 saves in a 3–0 loss to the

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

, followed by 28 saves in a 5–2 victory against

. Godla's performance was enough to secure Slovakia a 3rd-place finish in Group A, and a spot in the playoff round. In the Quarterfinals Godla picked up his first shutout in international play in a 3–0 over the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The Semi-Finals saw a 5–1 loss to the Canadians, giving them a berth in the bronze medal game against Sweden. Godla came up big once again, making 26 saves in a 4–2 victory to capture the bronze. His performance earned Godla tournament MVP, a spot on the tournament All-Star team, and the IIHF best goaltender award.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Godla, Denis 1995 births Living people KalPa players Kokkolan Hermes players Iisalmen Peli-Karhut players Sportspeople from Kežmarok Ice hockey people from the Prešov Region ŠHK 37 Piešťany players Slovak ice hockey goaltenders HC Slovan Bratislava players HK Spišská Nová Ves players HC Litvínov players Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic Slovak expatriate ice hockey players in Finland 21st-century Slovak sportsmen