RIGA – The Latvian Hockey Federation (LHF) named Karlis Zirnis its new U20 national team head coach following a board meeting on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old has been working as an assistant coach with the men’s and U20 national teams at several occasions during the last five seasons including stints at the 2014 Olympics and the last four World Championships.

Zirnis grew up in Latvia and represented his country at the 1995 U18 European Championship C-Pool and the 1996 and 1997 U20 World Championship B-Pool tournaments shortly after the country’s independence. Since 1997 he has been living in North America where he played college and minor-league hockey (CHL, SPHL) in the U.S. until 2010. Afterwards he worked as a scout and coach. This season he has been the head coach of junior team Shreveport Mudbugs of the NAHL after three years as head coach of the Nashville Jr. Predators.

“Karlis Zirnis has for several years helped the senior and junior national teams and now quite successfully led a U.S. junior team in the NAHL. He has sufficient experience and expertise to lead the U20 national team to the World Junior Championship,” said LHF President Aigars Kalvitis. “I’m confident that the Latvian junior national team under Karlis Zirnis’ guidance will return to the top division.”

The Latvian U20 national team will play at the Black See Cup 2017 in Sochi, Russia, as kick-off for next season’s preparation. After a last-place finish at the recent World Juniors Latvia will compete in the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division I Group A next winter and aim at promotion against Germany, France, Kazakhstan, Austria and Hungary.