Vitaly Kolesnik

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Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 198 lb (90 kg)
NHL Team	Colorado Avalanche
Nationality	Kazakhstan
Born	August 20, 1979, Ust-Kamenogorsk, KAZ
Pro Career	2005 – present

Vitaly Kolesnik (born on August 20, 1979 in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan) The 6'2", 198 pound ice hockey goalie was signed as a free agent by the Colorado Avalanche on August 16th, 2005. Unlike the vast majority of ice hockey players, he was never drafted into the NHL. However, other players have entered the NHL without being drafted, such as veteran goalie Ed Belfour of the Florida Panthers and Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning

He played for the Avalanche's minor league hockey team, the Lowell Lock Monsters, where he logged a 2.80 goals against average and a .916 save percentage with a pair of shutouts. His first game played with the Colorado Avalanche was on December 7th, 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 7 NHL games, going 3-3-0, with a 3.29 goals against average, and a .887 save percentage. Earlier in the week, on December 21st, it was announced that Kolesnik was selected to represent his home country of Kazakhstan in the 2006 Turin Olympics.

On March 8, 2006, the Avalanche traded their current starting goalie David Aebischer to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Jose Theodore. Due to Theodore's current injured status, Kolesnik was recalled the next day, March 9, to play as backup to Peter Budaj. Kolesnik finished the season appearing in 8 games for the Avalanche.

For the 2006-07 season, Kolesnik left North America to play for Mytishi Khimik in the Russian Elite League.