Barracuda in the Community: March
Apr 4, 2016Things are starting to heat up on the ice as the Barracuda enter their final month of play. March was a very busy for the Barracuda Crew, who played 9 of their 11 total games at home. With the team in San Jose, that also means there was plenty of time for the players and Frenzy to go out and visit Barracuda fans all over San Jose and the surrounding towns. Let’s recap what was a wild month of March!
Barracuda Math Class saw its busiest month of the season during March with a total of 10 visits in San Jose, Campbell and Redwood City. Frenzy made his way around to a majority of the schools with help from some very special guests including Nikolay Goldobin, Aaron Dell, Barclay Goodrow, Alex Gallant and Trevor Parkes. As always, the players take part in a game of math jeopardy with the students and this year Barracuda defenseman Patrick McNally went 5-0 during his school visits making him the 2015-16 Barracuda Jeopardy champion!
School visits were not the only events keeping the Barracuda busy last month. Barracuda captain Bryan Lerg and goaltender Troy Grosenick both stopped by San Pedro Square to do a little bartending before the Sharks game on March 10th. Players were on hand to sign autographs, take photos and pour some of the finest local brews San Jose has to offer! A few weeks later, forwards Petter Emanuelsson and Nikita Jevpalovs stopped by San Pedro Square for a post-game autograph session following their game against San Diego.
Barracuda players weren’t the only ones who had a busy schedule in March, as Frenzy made a handful of appearances as well. In addition to visiting a number of schools, Frenzy also attended birthday parties including one for Santa Cruz Warriors mascot Mav’Rik. At the game Frenzy hung out with some of his newest mascot pals and ate special Mav’Rik cupcakes! Frenzy also took part in this year’s Silicon Valley Braves the Shave event for St. Baldrick’s. Frenzy and his good friend Sourdough Sam were on hand to help shave participant’s heads for a great cause!
One of Frenzy’s biggest accomplishments during the month of March was his semifinal victory in the AHL’s annual Mascot Madness contest. Frenzy came out victorious in a group that featured Skates from the Chicago Wolves, T-Bone from the San Antonio Rampage, Moose from the Rochester Americans and Devil Dawg from the Albany Devils. Frenzy moves onto the finals which start April 5th and run until April 7th and he will be competing against Sully from Lake Erie, Tux from Wilkes-Barre, Gulliver from San Diego, Crash from Iowa and Buddy from St. Johns. You can vote for Frenzy 10 times a day at www.sjbarracuda.com/mascotmadness.
On March 13th, the San Jose Barracuda held their first ever Star Wars Night which featured specialty R2-D2 jerseys that the players wore during the game. Those jerseys were auctioned off throughout the night with proceeds from the jerseys benefitting the Aubri Brown Club. Thanks to everyone that participated, the Barracuda raised over $14,000 for ABC! The Barracuda also wore special Hawaiian Shirt jerseys for Beach Day which happened later in March where proceeds are going to benefit the Santa Cruz chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.
Last but certainly not least, the community recap would not be complete until we took a minute to recognize Barracuda 2015-16 Man of the Year Ryan Carpenter. “Carpy” has been an instrumental part of the Barracuda’s involvement in the community during their inaugural season by taking part in a number of community and charitable efforts. As the Barracuda Man of the Year, Carpenter is now one of 30 finalists for the 2015-16 AHL IOA/Specialty Man of the Year Award which is given out to the player who contributes most to his community. Read more about Ryan's accomplisments this season.
That covers things for the month of March. It’s time to buckle up for what should be a wild ride as the Barracuda push for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Follow all of the action through our website (www.sjbarracuda.com), through social media (@sjbarracuda) and on the radio with Eric Lindquist on AM 1220 KDOW!
Summer is coming up fast and Frenzy is looking for plans! If you want to have the hardest working fish in the AHL at your event, head to Frenzy's page and fill out an appearance request form!
If you would like to learn more information about the Barracuda and our efforts in the community, please visit the Community Relations page or email jgoldstein@sjbarracuda.com!