A photo of Vitaly Kolesnik.
Vitaly Kolesnik (b. August 20th 1979 in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan) is a professional goaltender who plays in the Russian Superleague for Khimik Mytishi
After a few seasons with KT Ust-Kamenogorsk of the Vysshaya Liga, Kolesnik entered the National Hockey League when the Colorado Avalanche signed him as a free agent on August 16th 2005. He began playing professionally in the American Hockey League with the Lowell Lock Monsters, where he logged a 2.80 goals against average and a .916 save percentage with a pair of shutouts. He was called up by the Avalanche and played his first NHL game on December 7th 2005, beating the Boston Bruins 4-1. He returned to the AHL 21 days later, with a 3-3-0 record. He would play one last game with the Avs later in the season, to back up Peter Budaj after David Aebischer was traded to the Montreal Canadiens, as Jose Theodore, whom the Avs got for Aebischer, was still injured.
Kolesnik left North America to join the Khimik Mytishi of the Russian Superleague.