Vitaly Kolesnik

Vitali Nikolaevich Kolesnik (; born August 20, 1979) is a Kazakhstani former professional ice hockey goaltender, who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Colorado Avalanche and the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Playing career Kolesnik began his career with Kazzinc-Torpedo and spent five years with the club from Ust-Kamenogorsk before being signed as a free agent by the Colorado Avalanche on August 16, 2005. Unlike the vast majority of NHL players, Kolesnik was never drafted.

He played for the Avalanche's minor league hockey team, the Lowell Lock Monsters, where he logged a 2.80 goals against average (GAA) and a .916 save percentage with a pair of shutouts. His first game played with the Colorado Avalanche was on December 7, 2005, in which they beat the Boston Bruins 4–1. On December 28, 2005, the Colorado Avalanche announced that Kolesnik was being sent back to Lowell, after starting seven NHL games, going 3–3–0, with a 3.29 goals against average and a .887 save percentage. Earlier in the week, on December 21, it was announced that Kolesnik was selected to represent his home country of Kazakhstan in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. He got to play in two games (4–1 loss to USA, 2–1 loss to Slovakia), and was the first star for Kazakhstan in both games.

Kolesnik was recalled again by the Avalanche on March 9, 2006 to dress as a backup to Peter Budaj. Kolesnik finished the season with Colorado, appearing in eight games.

For the 2006–07 season, Kolesnik, with the ambition to become a starting goaltender, left North America to play for Khimik Mytishchi in the Russian Superleague (RSL). On April 28, 2009, he left Mytishi Khimik and signed with league rival Avangard Omsk. After only three months with Avangard, Kolesnik joined Salavat Yulaev Ufa and signed a three-year contract. He finished the first regular season of the KHL with the lowest goals against average amongst all goaltenders with 1.59. During the opening round playoffs in the 2009–10 season against Avtomobilist, Kolesnik became the victim of a bizarre random assault when an inebriated Ekaterinburg fan from the stands swung a stick repeatedly over the Ufa team bench and concussed Kolesnik. Kolesnik left the game as Avtomobilist won 4–3 and were subsequently fined. He went on to win the Gagarin Cup with Salavat Yulavev Ufa during the 2010–11 season.

After the completion of his three-year contract, Kolesnik left to sign as a free agent with the rebuilt Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, for the 2012–13 season on May 3, 2012. Kolesnik played his last season with Barys Astana in 2016-2017 before retiring.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1998–99 Kazzinc-Torpedo VHL 2 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2001–02 Kazzinc-Torpedo VHL 1 — — — — — — 1.00 — — — — — — — — — 2002–03 Kazzinc-Torpedo VHL 25 — — — — — — 2.10 — — — — — — — — — 2003–04 Kazzinc-Torpedo VHL 35 — — — — — — 1.67 — — — — — — — — — 2004–05 Kazzinc-Torpedo VHL 42 — — — — — — 1.67 — — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Lowell Lock Monsters AHL 29 15 13 0 1717 80 3 2.80 .918 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Colorado Avalanche NHL 8 3 3 0 370 20 0 3.24 .888 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 Khimik Moscow Oblast RSL 38 — — — 2006 82 4 2.45 — 9 — — 503 16 3 1.91 — 2007–08 Khimik Moscow Oblast RSL 51 — — — 2684 101 3 2.26 — 5 — — 269 10 0 2.23 — 2008–09 Atlant Moscow Oblast KHL 30 15 5 6 1322 35 5 1.59 .945 1 0 0 7 0 0 0.00 1.000 2009–10 Salavat Yulaev Ufa KHL 34 17 6 6 1622 60 5 2.22 .908 4 1 3 272 8 0 1.76 .934 2010–11 Salavat Yulaev Ufa KHL 27 15 4 5 1315 50 3 2.28 .922 4 1 2 148 2 1 0.81 .975 2011–12 Salavat Yulaev Ufa KHL 20 6 8 3 1016 53 1 3.13 .898 — — — — — — — — 2012–13 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 15 6 7 2 830 34 2 2.46 .920 — — — — — — — — 2013–14 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 19 7 4 5 955 24 3 1.51 .946 1 0 0 20 1 0 3.00 .917 2014–15 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 28 13 6 7 1456 44 1 1.81 .932 3 0 2 139 8 0 3.47 .881 2015–16 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 26 15 7 3 1506 50 2 1.99 .919 — — — — — — — — 2016–17 Barys Astana KHL 6 0 3 0 230 16 0 4.17 .855 — — — — — — — — KHL totals 205 93 48 37 10,253 366 22 2.14 .922 13 2 6 586 19 1 1.94 .933 NHL totals 8 3 3 0 370 20 0 3.24 .888 — — — — — — — —