NOLLY'S NOTES - BLOG #40
Nick Nollenberger
Sep 12, 2023
Hello, Cuda Country, the wait is over. We’ve got Sharks (Rookie Tournament) hockey this week! It’s been 152 days since the Sharks last played, and while many of the names you know won’t be in action this upcoming weekend in Vegas for the 2023 NHL Rookie Faceoff, bright young stars will be on full display as the unofficial start to a new season begins.
GA seating is not available for any of the games due to limited capacity but you can listen to the audio call live on the Sharks Audio Network via the Sharks + SAP Center app presented by Western Digital and you can watch at sjsharks.com.
The Sharks roster features 2023 draft selections Quentin Musty, Kasper Halttunen, and Luca Cagnoni, along with several Sharks and San Jose Barracuda players such as Thomas Bordeleau, Brandon Coe, William Eklund, Danil Gushchin, Tristen Robins, Henry Thrun, and Shakir Mukhamadullin. View full roster.
Friday, Sept. 15
Game 1 - SJS vs. LAK, 1 p.m. PT, City National Arena
Saturday, Sept. 16
Game 2 - VGK vs. SJS, 7 p.m. PT, The Dollar Loan Center
Monday, Sept. 18
Game 1 - ARI vs. SJS, 10 a.m. PT, City National Arena
Tigres Del Mar
In the 2023-24 season, the Barracuda will honor Latinx and Hispanic Heritage on three separate occasions. For each of these games, the team will undergo a complete rebranding, including the use of specialty jerseys. These jerseys will be worn during all three games and will be auctioned off following the final game on Saturday, March 2, 2024, against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The artwork reveal for the jerseys, presented by La Patrona Cocina Mexicana, will be released later this month.
Here are the Tigres Del Mar game dates:
- Saturday, October 28, 2023, vs. Coachella Valley Firebirds (6 p.m. – Tech CU Arena).
- Friday, January 12, 2024, vs. Bakersfield Condors (7 p.m. – Tech CU Arena).
- Saturday, March 2, 2024, vs. Coachella Valley Firebirds (6 p.m. – Tech CU Arena).
The first game of this series, scheduled for Saturday, October 28th, against the Coachella Valley, will kick off with a pregame block party presented by La Patrona Cocina Mexicana. This event will take place from 3-5:30 p.m. in the East Lot (next to the Gray Rink) of Tech CU Arena (@TechCUArena). The block party will feature live music, food and beverage options, lowriders, face painters, and luchador wrestlers from Pro Wrestling Revolution, among other attractions.
In addition to the block party, Telemundo 48 Area De La Bahia talent will make cameo appearances alongside PA announcer Amelia Schimmel, in-arena host Aaron Fonseca, and Vice President of Business Operations for the Barracuda Frank Torres.
The first 1,000 fans attending each of these three games will receive a Tigres Del Mar pin as part of a collectible three-game series. Special three-game shirsey ticket packages are also available, and for just $5 more, fans can add a Tigres Del Mar coozie to their ticket purchase. For more information about ticket packages, please contact your representative by calling (408) 999-5757 or email sales@sjbarracuda.com. Tickets start at just $13 per game.
To purchase individual tickets, click HERE
We believe that these promotions will be among the best in the club's nine-year history, and we can't wait to kick things off.
Additionally, the Barracuda have been gradually unveiling their promotional and giveaway schedule for the upcoming 2023-24 season. This approach differs from releasing it all at once. The promotional schedule includes three Tigres Del Mar Nights, two Pucks & Paws games, Ugly Sweater Weekend with Santa Con and Teddy Bear Toss, Hockey is for Everyone, Pink in the Rink, Cuda Country Night presented by Bay Country, Military Appreciation, and Cuda Classroom. The promotional schedule is packed with giveaways and theme nights, and tickets start at just $13.
Cassels Signed
On Monday, the Barracuda signed forward Cole Cassels for the 2023-24 season. Cassels, 28, skated in 64 games for the AHL’s Belleville Senators in 2022-23, setting career-highs in goals (12), assists (39) and points (51). He began the campaign in Sweden playing for the Södertälje SK of the Allsvenskan, but signed with the B-Sens on Nov. 2, 2022.
Over his eight-year career, the six-foot, 194-pounder from Hartford, Conn., has dressed in 419 AHL games with the Utica Comets, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Cleveland Monsters, and Senators, totaling 164 points (47 goals, 117 assists) and 264 penalty minutes.
Originally drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the third round (85th overall) in 2013, Cassels played his junior hockey in the OHL with the Oshawa Generals where he captured a Memorial Cup in 2015.
A year ago, Cassels was a teammate of current Sharks’ forward Scott Sabourin in Belleville. He is the son of former NHLer Andrew Cassels.
Earlier this offseason I projected the Barracuda’s opening day lineup. With Cassels now in the mix, I’ve updated my guess of who will be with the team to start the year.
Barracuda Opening Night Roster Prediction:
Thomas Bordeleau* - Ryan Carpenter* - Danil Gushchin*
Jacob Peterson*- Nathan Todd - Tristen Robins*
Brandon Coe - Cole Cassels - Ethan Cardwell
Adam Raska*- Scott Sabourin - Ozzy Wiesblatt
Henry Thrun* - Leon Gawanke
Nick Cicek* - Shakir Mukhamadullin
Nikita Okhotyuk* - Ethan Frisch
Eetu Makiniemi*
Magnus Chrona
*= games played in the NHL in 2022-23
Changes from last time: Eklund makes the Sharks, Peterson begins in the AHL. Cardwell moves from third-line center to third-line right wing, as Cole Cassils centers the third line, and Ozzy Wiesblatt drops to fourth-line right wing.
Guessing the roster is all in good fun and merely an educated guess so don't hold me to it. That will do it for this week's edition of Nolly’s Notes. Thanks so much for reading and so long until next time.