LOVELAND, Colo. – It took just over a week for the Colorado Eagles to fill a mid-season vacancy in their coaching staff.
And, according to reports from The Denver Post’s Mike Chambers, they didn’t have to look far to fill the position.
NEW: Former #Avs D Brett Clark is new assistant coach for the AHL's Colorado Eagles, replacing Ryan Tobler who recently resigned. Clark was development coach for Avs, well familiar with everything Eagles.
— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers) March 15, 2021
Defenseman Brett Clark began his professional hockey career with the Montreal Canadiens in 1997. 17 seasons later, he finished his playing days with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters after accumulating 689 NHL games, 379 AHL games, and 106 IHL games for a total of almost 1,200 professional hockey games. Clark was then hired by the Avalanche as a player development consultant in September 2014, a role he held for five seasons. He then earned a promotion to development coach ahead of the 2019-20 season.
Tobler had been involved with the Eagles organization since his playing days. Spanning from the club’s inception in 2003 to 2010, his career spanned seven of the eight seasons Colorado spent in the Central Hockey League before moving to the ECHL for the 2011-12 campaign. Tobler became head coach of the Chinook Hockey League’s Bentley Generals from 2013 to 2016 before rejoining the Eagles as an assistant coach for the 2016-17 season. He won two Kelly Cup Championships with Colorado in 2017 and 2018, staying on as an assistant at the AHL level from 2018 until earlier this month.
His departure was announced on Thursday, March 4 via social media, just over 24 hours before the Eagles were set to host the Henderson Silver Knights for the first time in franchise history.
Assistant coach Ryan Tobler has resigned from the @ColoradoEagles, the #Avs' AHL affiliate. Tobler was a two-time CHL champion w/ Eagles and ranks fourth in all-time scoring. Has his No. 17 retired.
— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers) March 4, 2021
As of 10:00 p.m. MDT on March 16, Clark is still listed on the Avalanche staff page. Tobler also remains on the Colorado Eagles website as a member of their coaching staff.
