The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's hockey program added Karlis Zirnis as an assistant coach to the program in September 2023.
"We are excited to welcome Karlis to our coaching staff," said Smith. "He has excellent experience coming from the skill development perspective, as well as stops at University of Alaska Fairbanks and Alabama-Huntsville. His ties with the Latvian National Team are also very important in recruiting. We feel we are adding an experienced coach who can make our program better. It's outstanding that RPI has stepped up with the changing of the NCAA legislation to allow us to have the full compliment of coaches. Our players and staff are excited to get going."
Zirnis comes to Troy with a wealth of coaching experience, as he currently remains a coach for the Latvian National Team since 2012. He was also head coach of the 18AAA Nashville Junior Predators, and the Director of Personnel for the Amarillo Wranglers of the NAHL. In addition, Zirnis was a Player Development Coach and Mentor at Total Package Hockey Academy. He was in all three places since 2021. During that time, he twice served as a broadcast analyst for the IIHF World Championships on the Latvian National Television Network in both 2021 and 2023.
Prior to his experience since 2021, Zirnis spent one season as associate head coach at Alabama Huntsville and three seasons at the University of Alaska Fairbanks as an assistant coach. Zirnis starred at Alabama Huntsville from 1999-2003, finishing in their top 20 all-time in scoring. He also appeared as a player on the Latvian national team on multiple levels as a player, suiting up for the U18 (1995), U20 (1996-97), and the top level squad (2001-02).
Other stops as a coach came with the Shreveport Mudbags (NAHL) from 2016-18, Nashville Junior Predators (NA3HL) from 2014-16, Total Package Hockey (2009-16), and Thunder AAA from 2009-16. As a player, he also suited upu for the Colorado Eagles (CHL) from 2003-05 - where he won a regular season and playoff championship – the Bossier Shreveport Mudbags (CHL) from 2006-08 and won back-to-back regular season titles, and the Huntsville Havoc (SPL) from 2008-09, serving as team captain.
