The ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies announced Tuesday that Ryan Kinasewich is the team’s new head coach and general manager.

Kinasewich, the eighth head coach in team history and fourth since the team joined the ECHL in 2005, takes over for Tim Branham, who was named an assistant coach with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles earlier this month.

Named Grizzlies’ assistant coach on January 14, 2018, Kinasewich played in 12 seasons as a professional from 2005-2016.

A two-year captain in Utah, he is the Grizzlies’ all-time leader in goals (156), assists (200) and points (356). Kinasewich’s best season with Utah was in 2009-10, where he collected 103 points (48 goals, 55 assists) in only 59 games.

In 30 playoff games with the Grizzlies, Kinasewich recorded 23 points (16 goals, seven assists).

Since Kinasewich joined the club in the middle of the 2017-18 season, the Grizzlies have had a .584 winning percentage.

Kinasewich has connections with the other three Grizzlies head coaches in the ECHL era, playing for Jason Christie for three seasons and Kevin Colley for two years before working with Branham for the past three and a half seasons.

Replacing Kinasewich as assistant coach is former Grizzlies forward Teigan Zahn, who also won back-to-back Kelly Cups with the Colorado Eagles, then in the ECHL, in 2017 and 2018. He played for Utah in 2013-14 and then from 2018-21.

(September 28, 2021)