Oļegs Znaroks is a Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

n former ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 player, with German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 citizenship since 2001. Currently he is the coach of UHC Dynamo

UHC Dynamo

Unified Hockey Club Dynamo , or simply Dynamo Moscow, is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Moscow. They are members of the Kontinental Hockey League. The team was created in 2010 after the merger of HC Dynamo and HC MVD...

 of the KHL.

Playing career

As player Znaroks was known for his leadership on and off the ice, tough playing style and scoring ability. He begun his professional playing career in Dinamo Riga. Later in his career Znaroks played mostly in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, most notably for EHC Freiburg. Znaroks has played for Latvia and Soviet union internationally 50 and 9 games respectively.
Oļegs Znaroks is best remembered by Latvian hockey fans for scoring game tying goal against Switzerland in 1996 world championships B division, a goal that eventually brought Latvia into division A.

Coaching career

After finnishing his player career Znaroks served as coach for junior national teams for several years. In 2006 he was named as head coach of team Latvia. On 2008 he became HC MVD Moscow Oblast

HC MVD Moscow Oblast

HC MVD was a professional ice hockey club based in Balashikha, Moscow Oblast, Russia. They werre members of the Tarasov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League. They are best known for winning the silver medal in the KHL backstopped by all star goaltender Michael Garnett in 2010...

's coach. On both accasions his assistant is Harijs Vītoliņš

Harijs Vitolinš

Harijs Vītoliņš is a Latvian former professional ice hockey centre...

 Znaroks former team Latvia and Dinamo Riga

Dinamo Riga

Dinamo Riga was an ice hockey club, based in Riga, Latvia. It was founded in 1946 and disestablished in 1995 as Pārdaugava Rīga.-History of Dinamo Riga:...

 linemate and succeeding captain of team Latvia.

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