GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS. HEAT (4.21.17)
Apr 21, 2017San Jose Barracuda (0-0) vs. Stockton Heat (0-0)
GAME 1 (Best-of-5), Divisional Round Semifinal
April 21, 2017 -- SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose Calif. (7:00 PM)
Tonight’s Matchup: On Friday, the Barracuda kick off a best-of-five Calder Cup Divisional Round semifinal series with their archrival the Stockton Heat. During the 12-game season series against Stockton, San Jose went 7-5-0 and 4-2-0 at SAP Center. The Barracuda outscored Stockton 37-to-32 and accumulated 358 penalty minutes in the 12 games. Friday will be Stockton’s first playoff game in franchise history after missing out on the dance in their inaugural season last year. San Jose fell 3-to-1 in a best-of-five opening round series to the Ontario Reign in 2016.
Best of the West: The San Jose Barracuda finished the regular season with a 43-16-4-5 (.699) record, resulting in both the Bud Poile Trophy (Western Conference Regular Season Champions) and John Chick Trophy (Pacific Division Regular Season Champions). San Jose went on a 14-game winning streak from Jan. 21 to March 1.
(Red) Hot: Barracuda forward Daniel O’Regan was named the winner of the Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding rookie for the 2016-17 season. O’Regan paced all AHL rookies in scoring with 58 points (23 goals, 35 assists) while skating in 63 games for the Barracuda. The leading point-getter for the team with the AHL’s top-ranked offense, O’Regan notched 11 power-play goals and recorded five game-winning tallies, and had a plus/minus rating of plus-6 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: 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 guided the Barracuda to the Pacific Division title and the second-best record in the entire league. Sommer sent nine players to the NHL to skate with the parent San Jose Sharks this season.
Not “Baz”: Troy Grosenick completed his tremendous regular season with a record of 30-10-5, earning the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender for the 2016-17 season. In 49 appearances for San Jose this season, Grosenick ranked second in the league in wins (30), third in goals-against average (2.04) and second in save percentage (.926). 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 at the end of the season. Among blueliners, Heed is finished fourth in the AHL in points (56), third in assists (42), T-seventh in goals (14), T-sixth in power-play goals (8), T-fifth in game-winning goals (4) and is T-15th overall in the league in points.
Rockin’ Ryan: Joakim Ryan finished the regular season T-fifth in the AHL in points (49) among d-men, fifth in assists (39), and is fourth in the AHL in plus/minus (+27).