Kristan, one of the best Slovenian goaltenders, began his career with Acroni Jesenice of the Slovenian League and of the Interliga A. He would play with Olimpija Ljubljana for the 2002-03 season, where he established himself as the number one goalie. The next season, he returned to Jesenice, where at first he shared duties between the pipes with Gaber Glavič; it soon became clear that Kristan was the better of the two however, and he took the starting goalie role over, limiting Glavič to only a handful of games.