WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – In news that came as a shock to the fans of the Utah Grizzlies, it was announced Monday evening that head coach Tim Branham was named as an assistant coach for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.

Branham departs Utah after spending eight years with the organization. During his time behind the bench, he racked up a record of 284-205-76, en route to becoming the Grizzlies’ all-time winningest head coach. He also lead the Grizzlies to six ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs during those eight years.

The promotion of Branham comes as former Eagles assistant coach Brett Clark made a comment about not being able to be on the coaching staff. In a Twitter post by the Colorado Avalanche, former Eagles assistant coach said this:

“Under the new league protocols, I am not permitted to fulfill my duties on the Eagles coaching staff at this time. I appreciate the opportunity and look forward to resuming my coaching career at some point soon.”

As the off-season continues, the search now starts for a new head coach. One of the strong candidates for the position would be current assistant coach Ryan Kinasewich, who has quite a bit of experience with the Grizzlies, serving three seasons as Branham’s assistant. Before coming to Utah as an assistant, he also played for the Grizzlies from 2005-2010, becoming the team’s all-time leading goal scorer with 159 goals and 200 assists, good for a point total of 359 in the 239 games played.

As that would make the most sense, the Grizzlies would need a new assistant coach and if that is the case one of the stronger candidates would be former Grizzlies Captain, and player assistant coach Teigan Zahn, who played for the Grizzlies in 2013-2014 and also 2018-2021. In his time with Utah, he played 188 games, getting 12 goals and 24 assists, but his last two seasons were cut short due to injuries in the middle of each season.

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