Kārlis Zirnis

Kārlis Zirnis (born 2 November 1977) is a Latvian former professional ice hockey player and coach. As of 2021, he is the director of player personnel for the Amarillo Wranglers in the North American Hockey League

Kārlis Zirnis
Born (1977-11-02) 2 November 1977
Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Left wing
Shot Left
Played for Alabama–Huntsville
Colorado Eagles
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
Huntsville Havoc
National team  Latvia
Playing career 1996–2010
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2010–2012Amarillo Bulls (scout)
2011–2012TPH Thunder U16 (assistant)
2012–2017Latvian National Team (assistant)
2014–2015Latvian Junior Team (assistant)
2014–2016Nashville Junior Predators
2016–2017Latvian Junior Team (assistant)
2016–2018Shreveport Mudbugs
2017–presentLatvian Junior Team
2018–2020Alaska (assistant)
2020–2021Alabama–Huntsville (assistant)

Playing career

Zirnis played junior hockey in Latvia before moving to the United States, where he played for the Gaylord Grizzlies in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) in the 1997–98 season. From 1999 to 2003, he played college hockey for the Alabama–Huntsville Chargers. Zirnis led the team in scoring during his sophomore and junior seasons in Huntsville.[1][2] After graduating, he played five seasons in the Central Hockey League (CHL) with the Amarillo Gorillas, Colorado Eagles, and the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. Zirnis finished his playing career with the Huntsville Havoc of the Southern Professional Hockey League, where he was the team's captain in the 2008–09 season, and retired after one game of the 2009–10 season.[3]

Coaching career

After retiring from playing, Zirnis was a scout for the NAHL's Amarillo Bulls and an assistant coach for the TPH Thunder midget hockey organization. He was named Ted Nolan's assistant for the Latvian national team[4] before the 2013 IIHF World Championship,[5] and also coached in the 2014 and 2015 World Championships and the 2014 Olympics.[6]

From 2013 to 2016, Zirnis was the head coach of the Nashville Junior Predators of the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL).[7] In 2016, Zirnis was named the first head coach of the Shreveport Mudbugs in the North American Hockey League, an expansion team using the name of his former CHL team.[8] In the 2017–18 NAHL season, Zirnis led the Mudbugs to the Robertson Cup championship.

Following his championship season in Shreveport, he joined the University of Alaska-Fairbanks hockey team as an assistant coach.[9][10] Zirnis spent two seasons in Fairbanks before returning to his alma mater, the Alabama–Huntsville Chargers, as an associate coach for the 2020–21 season.

In 2021, he returned to the NAHL as the director of player personnel with the Amarillo Wranglers.[11]

References
  1. "Alabama-Huntsville Men – 2000–2001 Team Statistics". collegehockeystats.net. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  2. "Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (Men) 2001–2002 Team Statistics". collegehockeystats.net. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  3. "Karlis Zirnis". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  4. LHF (14 November 2013). "Nolans turpmāk apvienos darbus Latvijas izlasē un Bufalo "Sabres"" (in Latvian). lhf.lv. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  5. IIHF (5 May 2013). "TEAM ROSTER" (PDF). iihf.com. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  6. McCarter, Mark (22 March 2014). "Ex-UAH and Havoc star Karlis Zirnis back from Olympic coaching job, scores game-winner for Legends". The Huntsville Times. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  7. "Zirnis takes over for Howard as head coach in Nashville". NA3HL. 5 August 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  8. "Former Mudbug Zirnis named head coach of new Shreveport Mudbugs NAHL team". Bossier Press-Tribune. 2 June 2016.
  9. "Karlis Zirnis leaves Mudbugs to coach in NCAA". Shreveport Times. 12 July 2018.
  10. "Former Mudbugs coach Karlis Zirnis joins UAF hockey coaching staff". Daily News-Miner. 13 July 2018.
  11. "Wranglers name Zirnis as Director of Player Personnel". NAHL. 22 July 2021.
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