Rensselaer has added Karlis Zirnis as an assistant coach for the men’s hockey team.
“We are excited to welcome Karlis to our coaching staff,” said RPI head coach Dave Smith. “He has excellent experience coming from the skill development perspective, as well as stops at Alaska 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 complement of coaches.
“Our players and staff are excited to get going.”
Zirnis comes to the Engineers with a wealth of coaching experience, as he has been a coach for the Latvian National Team since 2012. He was also head coach of the 18U AAA Nashville Jr. Predators, and director of personnel for the NAHL’s Amarillo Wranglers. 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 Alaska as an assistant coach.
Zirnis starred at Alabama Huntsville from 1999 to 2003, finishing in the Chargers’ 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 NAHL’s Shreveport Mudbugs from 2016 to 2018, NA3HL’s Nashville Jr. Predators from 2014 to 2016, Total Package Hockey from 2009 to 2016, and Thunder AAA from 2009 to 2016. As a player, he also suited up for the then-CHL’s Colorado Eagles from 2003 to 2005, where he won a regular-season and playoff championship, the CHL’s Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs from 2006 to 2008 and won back-to-back regular-season titles, and the SPHL’s Huntsville Havoc from 2008 to 2009, serving as team captain.
