GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA AT CONDORS (4-15-17)
Apr 15, 2017SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (43-16-3-5) VS. TUCSON ROADRUNNERS (32-29-5-1)
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Rabobank Arena – Bakersfield, Calif. (6:00 p.m.)
Tonight’s Matchup: On Saturday, the San Jose Barracuda conclude the regular season when they take on the Bakersfield Condors at Rabobank Arena. San Jose is 8-2-0-1 against Bakersfield in 11 games played and 3-2 in Bakersfield. San Jose can clinch the MacGregor Kilpatrick Trophy as AHL regular season champions by matching Wilkes-Barre Scranton’s result on Saturday.
Calder Cup Quest: The San Jose Barracuda will open up the postseason at home against the Stockton Heat next Friday after Stockton’s 2-1 win over Bakersfield on Friday night.
Best of the West: The San Jose Barracuda have already secured the John Chick Trophy as Pacific Division Champions and the Bud Poile Trophy as Western Conference regular season champs and have guaranteed home ice throughout the first three rounds.
(Red) Hot: On Thursday, the AHL announced that Barracuda forward Daniel O’Regan has been named the winner of the Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding rookie for the 2016-17 season. With one game remaining in the regular season, O’Regan is pacing all AHL rookies in scoring with 57 points (23 goals, 34 assists) while skating in 62 games for the Barracuda. The leading point-getter for the team with the AHL’s top-ranked offense, O’Regan has also notched 11 power-play goals and recorded five game-winning tallies, and has a plus/minus rating of plus-8 while accruing just 10 minutes in penalties all season. O’Regan scored a goal in his pro debut on opening night and went on to record 11 points in his first 10 games to earn his first NHL recall, making his debut with the parent Sharks on Nov. 21. He later represented the Barracuda at the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic, scoring three goals for the Pacific Division in the round-robin All-Star Challenge.
Sommer Shines: On Wednesday, the AHL announced that Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer was voted the winner of the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding coach for the 2016-17 season. Overseeing one of the AHL’s youngest rosters, Sommer has guided the Barracuda to the Pacific Division title and the second-best record in the entire league with two games remaining in the regular season. San Jose is 43-16-3-5 (94 points, .701) and owns the AHL’s top-ranked offense (3.43 goals per game), and second-ranked power play (24.1 percent), while ranking fourth in team defense (2.58 goals per game) and eighth in penalty killing (83.3 percent). Sommer has also sent nine players to the NHL to skate with the parent San Jose Sharks this season.
Not “Baz”: After being named to the first AHL All-Star Team last week, Troy Grosenick collected some more hardware on Monday, earning the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender for the 2016-17 season. Grosenick has a record of 30-11-3 in 48 appearances for San Jose this season, ranking second in the league in wins (30), third in goals-against average (2.02) and second in save percentage (.927). He is also just the fifth goaltender in AHL history to reach double digits in shutouts in a single season (10), and he put together a scoreless stretch of more than 248 minutes from Nov. 19 to Dec. 18.
Heed Check: Tim Heed was not selected to the AHL All-Star Game in Lehigh Valley in late January but was voted to the second AHL All-Star Team just last week. Among blueliners, Heed is fourth in the AHL in points (56), third in assists (42), T-sixth goals (14), T-sixth in power-play goals (8), T-fifth in game-winning goals (4) and is T-14th overall in the league in points.
Rockin’ Ryan: Joakim Ryan is T-fifth in the AHL in points (49), fourth in assists (39), and is fourth in the AHL in plus/minus (+29). Ryan had his seven-game point/assists (2+9=11) streak snapped in Tuesday’s loss against Tucson.