Vitaly Kolesnik

Vitaly Kolesnik is a Kazakh professional ice hockey player who is the goalie for his current team, the Salavat Yulaev Ufa of the Kontinental Hockey League. He was signed as a free agent by Colorado Avalanche on August 16, 2005 but was never drafted. He played for the Avalanche’s minor league hockey team, the Lake Erie Monsters instead, recording 2.80 goals against average and a 0.916 save percentage. He played with the Colorado Avalanche for the first time on December 7, 2005, where they beat the Boston Bruins, after which it was announced that he would be returning to Lake Erie. Earlier that week it was also announced that he would be representing his home country in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

He then rejoined the Avalanche on March 9, 2006 as a backup for Peter Budaj. The Kazakh player played in a total of 8 games with the team before leaving North America for the 2006-2007 season to join Mytishi Khimik in the Russian Superleague. In 2009, he left the team and signed with Avangard Omsk, He stayed with the team for three months before signing with Salavat Yulaev Ufa.