The season of 2005-06 was a strange on for anyone watching the NHL. Coming out of the lockout, fans saw their favorite players walk away to other teams for more money, new rules were in place, a new national broadcaster was getting their feet wet and their faces flattened, and everything else was fraught with uncertainty.
The Avalanche were feeling the sting of losing a few long time key players, including Peter Forsberg, Dan Hinote, and Adam Foote. But for me, the season was marked with a goalie-go-round that seemed unnecessary. David Aebischer was faultering (but ended the season with a winning record for the Avs), Peter Budaj had some solid play but faltered at times, and Jose Theodore eventually showed his face in a trade from Montreal. But Vitaly Kolesnik was the guy who was thrown in at a moment of desperation.
The 2005-06 Colorado Avalanche Vitaly Kolesnik game worn jersey:
Kolesnik was the third goalie, playing in the AHL for the Lowell Lock Monsters (not to be confused with the Lake Erie Monsters), who the Avs were sharing an affiliation with the Carolina Hurricanes (who won the Stanley Cup that year, largely on the work done in Lowell during the previous AHL season). Kolesnik was called up for a little while, and the Avs carried three goalies for a bit. Call ups and being sent back down was confusing at the time, with the new waiver rules in the CBA. No one knew what was going to happen when someone was called up. Would they be wearing the team colors in a few days, or playing for someone else.
Kolesnik didn’t really shine in net, but the Avalanche weren’t taking the minor league system seriously enough then, and it would show in the next few seasons of play. And the three headed goalie monster took it’s toll.
For Kolesnik, the writing was on the wall. With the Avalanche trading for big name and big dollar Jose Theodore, and Peter Budaj the next goalie the Avs would be turning to, Kolesnik was going to be stuck in the minors barring the unforeseeable. Kolesnik packed his bags the next year and headed to Russia. Vitaly was a part of the 2006 Kazakhstan Olympic team, that won one game and lost four. I don’t know how many of those Kolesnik played in.
The two things that are a little unique about this jersey are the patches. First, the obvious one. The Avalanche ten year anniversary patch:
A cool – but not overly photogenic – patch. I know there were mixed reviews on the patch, but there are mixed reviews on everything. I like it. Enough said.
The other interesting part is found inside the hem of the jersey. 
Meigray, the people who deal with NHL, AHL, ECHL and other league’s game worn jerseys put a patch inside the jersey (sometimes outside the jersey) to authenticate and catalog it. Notice the dates on the Meigray patch, and the small patch they added on. You can’t have a game worn jersey during the lockout, can you? Also, check out the NHL logo. It’s the logo previous to the change after the lockout.
For some reason, I have a place in my heart for third goalies. They work hard in the system, and have less slots available to them. You could be a solid goalie, but things just don’t work for you with a team. To me, this is a classic example.
