Barracuda in the Community: January
Feb 4, 2016The Barracuda rolled into the New Year in style receiving points in nine out of their first ten games during the month of January. That hot start to 2016 pushed San Jose into a playoff spot with just a few months left before playoffs start. While things were heating up on the ice, the Barracuda players continued to have a presence in the community in and around San Jose!
Barracuda Math Class visited schools all over Santa Clara County and beyond including stops in San Jose, Sunnyvale, Gilroy and Scotts Valley. Barracuda players Ryan Carpenter, Karl Stollery, Trevor Parkes, Scott Timmins, Gus Young and Joakim Ryan all made visits at different schools to help teach kids about the game of hockey while sharpening their math skills. This was the second time Gus Young and Joakim Ryan assisted with a math class visit and their math jeopardy series is currently tied at one win a piece. The rubber match will take place sometime in March, so stay tuned to see who our winner is!
In December, the Barracuda wore Ugly Sweater jerseys and in January they wore camouflage Military Appreciation jerseys. Portions of the money raised during the jersey auction are going to be donated to Defending the Blue Line, an organization that looks to give children of military members every opportunity to participate in the game of hockey! Thanks to all those who placed bids on the jerseys, the San Jose Barracuda are proud to be able to donate over $6,000 dollars to Defending the Blue Line.
The night that the Barracuda wore those camouflage jerseys was special for another reason. On January 23rd the Barracuda proudly introduced the newest member of their team, Frenzy. Frenzy is the newest and coolest fish in San Jose! You will see him all over the Bay Area taking part in all kinds of fun activities. He will stop by ice rinks, charity events, festivals, birthday parties and more. Make sure you follow Frenzy on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to stay up to date on all of his whereabouts. For appearance information, visit Frenzy's page.
Right before the All Star break, Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer tied the AHL all time wins record by defeating the San Antonio Rampage. Coach Sommer is now just 1 win away from being the winningest coach in AHL history, a position currently held by Fred “Bun” Cook. After that win, the Barracuda headed into the All Star break where both Ryan Carpenter and Barclay Goodrow would represent the Barracuda in Syracuse, NY. Frenzy also took part in the weekend’s festivities with a number of other AHL Mascots.
Frenzy also made one other stop during the month of January. The Oakland Athletics held their annual fan fest last month and Frenzy took his welcome tour to the O.co Coliseum. The San Jose Barracuda also had their inflatable slap shot booth up and running for fans to use for the opportunity to win some cool prizes!
That covers everything for January. The San Jose Barracuda are on the road for most of February so Frenzy has plenty of visits planned throughout the month. If you would like to learn more information about the Barracuda and our efforts in the community, please visit Community Relations or email jgoldstein@sjbarracuda.com!