Kārlis Zirnis (born 2 November 1977) is a Latvian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player and coach. As of 2021, he is the director of player personnel for the Amarillo Wranglers in the

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 50th season of operation in 2024–25. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

Playing career

Zirnis played

junior hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from t ...

in Latvia before moving to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he played for the

Gaylord Grizzlies The Gaylord Grizzlies were a junior ice hockey team that played in the North American Hockey League. The team played out of the Otsego County Sportsplex in Gaylord, Michigan. History In the middle of their 5th season, the Saginaw Gears (NAHL), S ...

in the

(NAHL) in the 1997–98 season. From 1999 to 2003, he played

college hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the go ...

for the

Alabama–Huntsville Chargers The Alabama–Huntsville Chargers (also UAH Chargers) are the athletic teams that represent the University of Alabama in Huntsville, located in Huntsville, Alabama, in intercollegiate sports at the NCAA Division II, Division II ranks of the Nati ...

. Zirnis led the team in scoring during his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

and

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

seasons in Huntsville. After graduating, he played five seasons in the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

(CHL) with the

Amarillo Gorillas The Amarillo Gorillas were a minor league hockey team based in Amarillo, Texas. The team was most recently affiliated with the now defunct Central Hockey League (CHL) from 2001–10. The Gorillas began play in 1996 as the Amarillo Rattlers in t ...

Colorado Eagles The Colorado Eagles are a professional ice hockey team based in Loveland, Colorado. The Eagles play in the Pacific Division of the American Hockey League. The Eagles were founded as an expansion franchise in 2003 in the Central Hockey League and ...

, and the

Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs were a professional ice hockey team which played in the Bossier City, Louisiana, Bossier City-Shreveport, Louisiana, Shreveport metropolitan area of Louisiana. From 1997 to 2001, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs were ...

. Zirnis finished his playing career with the

Huntsville Havoc The Huntsville Havoc are a professional ice hockey team in the SPHL. They play their home games at the Von Braun Center in downtown Huntsville, Alabama. History The team began play in the 2004–05 season, following the defunct Huntsville ...

of the

Southern Professional Hockey League The SPHL (formerly the Southern Professional Hockey League) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league based in Huntersville, North Carolina, with teams located primarily in the southeastern United States as well as Illinois and Indian ...

, where he was the team's captain in the 2008–09 season, and retired after one game of the 2009–10 season.

Coaching career

After retiring from playing, Zirnis was a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

for the NAHL's

Amarillo Bulls The Amarillo Bulls were a Tier II junior ice hockey team based in Amarillo, Texas. They were a member of the North American Hockey League's South Division and played home games in the Amarillo Civic Center. History The franchise joined the NAHL ...

and an assistant coach for the TPH Thunder midget hockey organization. He was named

Ted Nolan Theodore John Nolan (born April 7, 1958) is an Indigenous Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach. He played as a left winger in the National Hockey League (NHL) and served as the head coach for the Buffalo Sabres and the Latvi ...

's assistant for the Latvian national team before the

2013 IIHF World Championship The 2013 IIHF World Championship was the 77th event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), held in Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland, between 3–19 May 2013. TV4 and MTV3 served as host broadcasters of the event. The ...

, and also coached in the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

World Championships and the 2014 Olympics. From 2013 to 2016, Zirnis was the head coach of the

Nashville Junior Predators The Nashville Junior Predators were a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III ice hockey team in the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL). The team played their home games at Ford Ice Center in Antioch, Tennessee, after spending their first two seasons ...

of the

North American 3 Hockey League The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) is an American Tier III junior ice hockey league that consists of teams from Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, ...

(NA3HL). In 2016, Zirnis was named the first head coach of the

Shreveport Mudbugs The Shreveport Mudbugs are a Junior ice hockey#Tier II, Tier II junior ice hockey team based in Shreveport, Louisiana, as a member of the North American Hockey League. The new Mudbugs replaced a former professional team that played in the area fr ...

in the

, an expansion team using the name of his former CHL team. In the 2017–18 NAHL season, Zirnis led the Mudbugs to the

Robertson Cup The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, an ...

championship. Following his championship season in Shreveport, he joined the University of Alaska-Fairbanks hockey team as an assistant coach. Zirnis spent two seasons in Fairbanks before returning to his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

, 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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zirnis, Karlis 1977 births Living people Latvian ice hockey left wingers Latvian ice hockey coaches Ice hockey people from Riga Latvian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Alabama–Huntsville Chargers men's ice hockey players Amarillo Gorillas players Colorado Eagles players Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs players Huntsville Havoc players