GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS CONDORS
Dec 28, 2019SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (10-15-0-2) vs BAKERSFIELD CONDORS (11-13-3-1)
SUNDAY, DEC. 29 | 5:00 P.M. | SAP CENTER | SAN JOSE, CA
LISTEN | WATCH | GAME NOTES | BIOS
Sunday Funday: On Sunday, the Barracuda play their final home game of 2019 as they play host to the Bakersfield Condors on Pucks and Paws Day. The Barracuda are 3-2 against the Oilers affiliate this season and are coming off a 6-2 win over Bako on December 11th.
Last Time Out: On Friday, the Barracuda returned from the holiday break and received their most lopsided loss in franchise history, 8-1 against the Stockton Heat. Sasha Chmelevski picked up San Jose’s only goal in the loss while the Heat’s Alan Quine recorded six points (three goals, three assists) and finished with a plus-six rating.
A Career Capped: Prior to Friday’s game, Barracuda captain John McCarthy, 33, announced he was going call it a career after 11 seasons due to health reasons. McCarthy suffered an Ischemic stroke on December 10th and has since made a fully recovery. He will now join the Barracuda’s coaching staff. McCarthy will go down as the San Jose’s Sharks all-time AHL leader in games played (552) [Worcester, San Jose], goals (125), assists (164), and points (289) and the Barracuda’s all-time leader in games played (275), goals (62), assists (76), points (138), power-play goals (17), and shorthanded goals (5). In addition, McCarthy skated in 88 NHL games with Sharks between 2009-2012, accumulating six points (three goals, three assists) and 22 penalty minutes. The Boston native also captain the 2009 Boston University Terriers to a National Championship and skated for Team USA at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Blichfeld Beasting: Prior to Friday, Joachim Blichfeld had points in five-straight games (4+5=9). Blichfeld leads the Barracuda in goals (11) and co-leads the team in points (22), power-play goals (3) and points-per-game (0.96). Among AHL rookies, Blichfeld is first in points-per-game (0.96), tied for seventh in scoring, T-sixth in goals and T-fifth in power-play goals. Last year, Blichfeld led the WHL in scoring (53 goals, 61 assists) and was named the WHL Player of the Year (Four Broncos Trophy) as a member of the Portland Winterhawks. The Sharks selected the Denmark native with the second-to-last pick (210th) in the 2016 NHL draft.
Maxed Out: Sophomore forward Max Letunov picked up an assist on Friday, he’s 50th career AHL point, and now co-leads the team in points (22) and is tied for first in power-play goals (3) and game-winners (2). Letunov has recorded points in 12 of his last 14 games (3+13=16). The Sharks originally acquired Letunov from the Arizona Coyotes in a draft-day trade in 2016.
Youth Movement: The Barracuda are the AHL’s youngest roster with an average age of 22.96-years-old. No other team in the league is under 23-years-old. In fact, seven players on the 'Cuda roster are 21-years-old or younger, including two players under 21 (Sasha Chmelevski [20] and Ivan Chekhovich [20]).