Vitaly Kolesnik was born on August 20th, 1979 in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakstan. The undrafted goaltender was signed as a free agent by the Colorado Avalanche on August 16th 2005.
In 2005-06 Kolesnik spent most of the season with Lowell of the AHL but had a pair of month long stints with the Avalanche where he went 3-3 averaging 3.24 GAA. While in Lowell the left handed goaltender won 15 games averaging 2.80 GAA.