Another Charger alumnus is coming home.
Speculated but now official, Karlis Zirnis was named the associate head coach on Tuesday, joining Lance West’s staff looking to rebuild the UAH program.
Zirnis played for the Chargers from 1999-2003, helping them win two College Hockey America regular-season titles. His 119 career points is 14th in UAH’s varsity history and second in the school’s modern Division I era. He also ranks third in goals (46) and second in assists (73) in UAH’s modern D-I era.
Zirnis most recently was assistant coach at Alaska from 2018 to this past season. He joined the Nanooks right after West left after 10 years in Fairbanks as an assistant and interim head coach.
Before Alaska, Zirnis was the first head coach for the Shreveport Mudbugs of the North American Hockey League. His team won the 2018 Robertson Cup as NAHL Champions and he was named 2017-18 NAHL South Coach of the Year.
Zirnis is a native of Riga, Latvia. He was on the coaching staff for the Latvian team at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, as well as the 2014 and 2015 World Championships.