Vitali Kolesnik

Playing career

Kolesnik got his start with Kazzinc-Torpedo, spending five seasons with the Ust-Kamenogorsk club before the Colorado Avalanche signed him as a free agent on August 16, 2005. Unlike most NHL players, he never went through the draft. He suited up for Colorado’s minor league affiliate, the Lowell Lock Monsters, putting up a 2.80 goals against average, a .916 save percentage, and two shutouts. His first taste of NHL action came on December 7, 2005, when the Avalanche beat the Boston Bruins 4–1. By December 28, the team sent him back to Lowell after seven starts, where he posted a 3–3–0 record, a 3.29 GAA, and an .887 save percentage. Just a week earlier, on December 21, he learned he’d been picked to play for Kazakhstan at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. He appeared in two games there—a 4–1 loss to the United States and a 2–1 loss to Slovakia—and was named first star for his country both times. The Avalanche recalled him on March 9, 2006, to back up Peter Budaj, and he finished the season with eight total appearances. Wanting to become a starting goaltender, Kolesnik left North America for the 2006–07 season, joining Khimik Mytishchi in the Russian Superleague. On April 28, 2009, he moved to league rival Avangard Omsk, but after just three months there, he signed a three-year deal with Salavat Yulaev Ufa. In his first regular season with Ufa, he led all KHL goaltenders with a 1.59 goals against average. During the opening round of the 2009–10 playoffs against Avtomobilist, a drunk fan from Ekaterinburg leaned over the Ufa bench and swung a stick repeatedly, concussing Kolesnik. He left the game, which Avtomobilist won 4–3, and the fan’s team was fined. Kolesnik went on to win the Gagarin Cup with Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the 2010–11 season. When his contract ended, he signed as a free agent with the rebuilt Lokomotiv Yaroslavl on May 3, 2012, for the 2012–13 campaign. His final season came with Barys Astana in 2016–2017, after which he retired.