West Valley City • When the Utah Grizzlies were affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks, there wasn’t much movement of players between the parent club’s two minor league teams.

The Ducks mainly brought players up from their American Hockey League affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, or sent them down. The Ducks’ Utah players, meanwhile, largely stayed with the Grizzlies and didn’t have much of opportunity to play themselves up to a higher level.

But since the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche joined forces with the Grizzlies, things have changed. The Avalanche sign many more players than the Ducks do, coach Tim Branham said, which makes it possible for more movement throughthe ranks. The partnership, now in its second year, has also given the entire team a feeling of inclusion.

“It’s just more invested, and you can kind of feel that,” Grizzlies defenseman Taylor Richart said earlier this week during a season-opening luncheon at the Maverik Center. “They know that we’re part of them, so they want us to be appreciated as well.”

Branham and several players said Colorado last year sent various types of development coaches to help the team improve on goaltending and other skills. Their NHL affiliate is so serious about player development, Branham said, that he has to report to the Avalanche daily on his players’ progress.

SEASON OPENER

GRIZZLIES VS. IDAHO STEELHEADS

At the Maverik Center





When • Friday, Saturday, 7 p.m.



But developing players comes at a cost. As the Grizzlies embark on the 2019-20 season Friday at home against the Idaho Steelheads with a Kelly Cup as the end game, they do so with the burden of a balancing act.

On the one hand, Grizzlies players want to play enough to get call-ups to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. And the coaches want to help them get there. At the same time, there are 72 ECHL games to play and a championship to hopefully win.

“We’re all here to get to the next level,” said Branham, who called the situation a double-edged sword. “We’re all here to develop the players to get to the next level. It’s a tough job. It’s a tough job because there is so much movement and everybody wants to get up to that next level. So many things have to go right in order to win down here in the AA level. It’s definitely a fine balance and it’s a daily thing that you go through.”

Branham said coaches at the ECHL level have to decide immediately whether they will develop their players to get them to the next level or keep them to themselves and try to win games. He recalled his own playing days when, at times, coaches would deny him a call-up because they were trying to win a game.

"That’s not good,” Branham said.

(Photo courtesy of Utah Grizzlies photography) Defenseman Taylor Richart looks on during a recent Grizzlies preseason game.

While Grizzlies players also see the constant roster shifting as something to endure, they try to focus on the positive aspect of it as well. Fourth-year defenseman Taylor Richart said there’s no jealously or sulking when teammates get called up to the Eagles. Instead, there’s pride.

But there’s also the reality that because the roster will be in constant flux throughout the season, the players have to accept that early and not let it affect team chemistry on the ice.

“You just have to make sure everybody’s bought in,” defenseman and assistant coach Teigan Zahn said. “There’s always movement in this league regardless of guys getting called up, sent down. The biggest thing is making sure guys are in check and not in their head about, ‘Oh am I going to get called up’ and stuff like that. Just live by the moment.”

The majority of Utah’s roster this season is new to the team. But the players are already starting to gel and camaraderie has already started to set in. Richart said his year’s team has something last year’s lacked.

“I think overall, I think we have the little things that teams do that win championships,” Richart said. “We’v got guys that know their role, got skill guys, guys that will sacrifice for the team, guys that want to be here [and] want to win. I think that goes from top to bottom.”

Forward Tim McGauley likes the mixture of veterans and younger players on this year’s team. He also likes the fact that there’s more talent and more grit.

And he thinks the Grizzlies can contend for the Kelley Cup.