Vitali Nikolaevich Kolesnik (russian: Виталий Николаевич Коле́сник; born August 20, 1979) is a

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

i former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

, who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) with the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

and the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL).

Playing career

Kolesnik began his career with

Kazzinc-Torpedo Torpedo Hockey Club ( kk, «Торпедо» хоккей клубы, ''«Torpedo» hokkeı klýby''; russian: Хоккейный клуб «Торпедо»), commonly referred to as Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk, formerly known as Kazzinc-Torpedo (1999 ...

and spent five years with the club from

Ust-Kamenogorsk Oskemen ( kk, Өскемен, translit=Öskemen ), or Ust-Kamenogorsk (russian: Усть-Каменого́рск), is the administrative center of East Kazakhstan Region of Kazakhstan. Population: Name The city has two official names. In the ...

before being signed as a free agent by the

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 The Lowell Devils were a minor ice hockey team in the American Hockey League playing in Lowell, Massachusetts, at the Tsongas Center. As their name implied, they were the top minor league affiliate of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey L ...

, where he logged a 2.80

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

(GAA) and a .916

save percentage Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various goal-scoring sports that track saves as a statistic. In ice hockey and lacrosse, it is a statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal ...

with a pair of shutouts. His first game played with the

was on December 7, 2005, in which they beat the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

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

in the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. 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 Peter Budaj ( ; born 18 September 1982) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey goaltender. He had previously played in the National Hockey League for the Colorado Avalanche, which drafted him, Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, and Tam ...

. 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 North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

to play for Khimik Mytishchi in the

Russian Superleague The Russian Superleague (russian: Чемпионат России Суперлига, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was consi ...

(RSL). On April 28, 2009, he left Mytishi Khimik and signed with league rival

Avangard Omsk Hockey Club Avangard (russian: ХК Авангард, links=no, Vanguard), also known as Avangard Omsk, is a Russian professional ice hockey team from Omsk. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Eastern Conference of the Kontinental H ...

. After only three months with Avangard, Kolesnik joined

Salavat Yulaev Ufa Hockey Club Salavat Yulaev (russian: Хоккейный клуб «Салават Юлаев», Hokkejnyj klub «Salavat Julajev»; ba, «Салауат Юлаев» хоккей клубы, «Salawat Yulayev» xokkey klubı), commonly referred ...

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 The Gagarin Cup (russian: Кубок Гагарина, Kubok Gagarina) is the trophy presented to the winner of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs, and is named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. The Cup was ...

with Salavat Yulavev Ufa during the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season. After the completion of his three-year contract, Kolesnik left to sign as a free agent with the rebuilt

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Hockey Club Lokomotiv (russian: ХК Локомотив, en, Locomotive HC), also known as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, is a Russian professional ice hockey team, based in the city of Yaroslavl, playing in the top level Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) ...

, for the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season on May 3, 2012. Kolesnik played his last season with

Barys Astana Hockey Club Barys ( kk, Барыс хоккей клубы , translit=Barys Hokkei Kluby), also referred to as Barys Astana or HC Barys, is a professional ice hockey team based in Astana, Kazakhstan. It is one of the founding members of the Kontine ...

in 2016-2017 before retiring.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kolesnik, Vitali 1979 births Living people Barys Nur-Sultan players Colorado Avalanche players Expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Atlant Moscow Oblast players Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Kazakhstani ice hockey goaltenders Kazakhstani people of Russian descent Kazzinc-Torpedo players Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players Lowell Lock Monsters players Asian Games gold medalists for Kazakhstan Medalists at the 2011 Asian Winter Games Medalists at the 2017 Asian Winter Games Olympic ice hockey players for Kazakhstan Ice hockey people from Oskemen Salavat Yulaev Ufa players Undrafted National Hockey League players Asian Games medalists in ice hockey Kazakhstani expatriate sportspeople in the United States Ice hockey players at the 2011 Asian Winter Games Ice hockey players at the 2017 Asian Winter Games Kazakhstani expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Kazakhstani expatriate ice hockey people