Avalanche Rumored to Lose Yet Another Player

Reports are surfacing that Colorado Avalanche back-up goaltender Vitaly Kolesnik will be leaving the Avalanche and signing with a team in Russia.

Kolesnik was part of a 3-goalie rotating system the Avalanche put into use after the play of former goaltender, David Aebischer, started to decline.

Kolesnik played 8 games for the Avs during the regular season, before their new goalie, Jose Theodore, recovered from his injuries and could play regularly.

Although the reports have not yet been confirmed, and Kolesnik is still listed on the official Colorado Avalanche roster, his loss would become just the latest in a list of many, including former wingers Dan Hinote and Alex Tanguay, and defenseman Rob Blake.

The Avalanche still have another goaltender that will serve as a backup to Theodore, rookie Peter Budaj, who has been in the Avalanche farm system since 1999.

Date

Mon 07/10/06, 9:38 pm EST

Madproof9Red-Shirting

1237 days ago

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Not even close to as devastating as the Blake, Tanguay, and Hinote losses, but it's still not good news, he was a great rookie goaltender who earned as much playing time as Aebischer when he was playing for the Avs, hopefully we still can retain his NHL rights if he decides to come back to the NHL.

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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer

1237 days ago

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Perhaps Kolesnik thought he needed some time in the minors to get his game together.

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Madproof9Red-Shirting

1237 days ago

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That's a good possiblity, if that's how it is it's nice to see a player demote himself like that and work on his game. He was a decent goalie for the 8 games he played, I don't think he could survive the whole season, or the playoffs for that matter, without a little more work.

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