Karlis Zirnis - Head On-Ice Skills Instructor

• Karlis Zirnis was born and raised in Riga, Latvia where he played for Latvian Hockey Junior Club until he was 17
  • Won the Latvian Ice Hockey Championship in 1995
  • Played in the World Junior Championship U-18 in 1995 and U-21 in 1996 and 1997
• Karlis then went on to play in the North America Junior Hockey League for the Gaylord Grizzlies and eventually earned a scholarship to the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH)
• During his college hockey career Karlis won the College Hockey America conference his sophomore and junior year, was named pre-season player of the year in 2002/2003 and is on the all time top 20 scoring list
• Following a successful career at UAH Karlis played professional hockey in the Central Hockey League (CHL) with the Colorado Eagles
  • During his 2003/2004 season Karlis was the rookie scoring leader with 37 assists and 60 points
  • He finished second in the Best Rookie category of the CHL Best of the Best poll and was a finalist for the CHL Rookie of the Year
  • In his 2004/2005 season the Colorado Eagles were the 2005 CHL Bud Poile Governor's Cup Champions and 2005 CHL Ray Miron President's Cup Champions
• Karlis also was invited to the try-out camp for the Latvian Olympic team and played games for team Latvia