The San Jose Barracuda are a professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
team based in
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
. They are the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...
(AHL) affiliate of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
(NHL)'s
San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...
. The team has played its home games at
Tech CU Arena since the
2022–23 season.
The Barracuda are a relocation of the former
Worcester Sharks
The Worcester Sharks were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2006 to 2015. Affiliated with the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks and located in Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachu ...
AHL franchise; it joined several other AHL franchises to form the AHL's Pacific Division in 2015.
History
On January 29, 2015, the
San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...
announced that they would be moving their AHL affiliate, the
Worcester Sharks
The Worcester Sharks were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2006 to 2015. Affiliated with the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks and located in Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachu ...
, to San Jose, California, as one of five charter members of the AHL's new Pacific Division. The team played at the SAP Center at San Jose, being one of two of the current AHL teams to share a home arena with its parent club (along with the
Manitoba Moose
The Manitoba Moose are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre.
The fran ...
sharing
Bell MTS Place with their parent
Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...
).
On April 1, 2015, the ''Silicon Valley Business Journal'' reported that the Sharks had signed a multi-year presenting sponsorship with
Barracuda Networks to be the AHL team's presenting sponsor; the team name would be the ''San Jose Barracuda'' and the reported team logo would feature the corporate logo in the background. Neither the Sharks nor Barracuda would comment, however, they stated that an official announcement would come later in the week.
The name and logo were confirmed the next day in a joint press release.
The team retained longtime AHL head coach
Roy Sommer
Roy A. Sommer (born April 5, 1957) is an American ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey player, who currently serves as the head coach for the Wenatchee Wild of the Western Hockey League. Sommer played three games for the Edmonto ...
with the relocation.
Friday October 9, 2015 marked the first official game in Barracuda history. They took on the
Rockford IceHogs at home, coming up on the losing end of a 4–2 score.
Micheal Haley scored the first ever franchise goal while on a power play in the first period. The Barracuda picked up the first win in franchise history while visiting the
Stockton Heat on October 15, 2015, by a score of 4–1.
On February 10, 2016, head coach Roy Sommer broke the record for most wins as an AHL coach, picking up his 637th win against the Ontario Reign by the score of 4–2.
The Barracuda finished the season 31–26–8–3. Its .527 winning percentage meant that it was matched up against the
Ontario Reign
The Ontario Reign are a professional ice hockey team based in Ontario, California. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings. The team plays its home games at the Toyota Arena.
The fra ...
during the Pacific Division semifinals. After splitting the first two games of the best-of-five series, the Barracuda came out on the losing end of game three by a 3–1 score, and also lost game four by a score of 4–1 to end their season.
Bryan Lerg and
Nikolay Goldobin led the team in goals with 21, while
Ryan Carpenter had a team high 55 points. Goaltender
Aaron Dell played a team high 40 games in net for the Barracuda, while winning 17 of them. The team's average attendance of 4,412 placed them 24th of 30 in the AHL.
The Barracuda's
2016–17 season would be more successful than its first season, winning 14 consecutive games from January 15 to March 1 and winning the Pacific Division and Western Conference. Goaltender
Troy Grosenick won the "Baz" Bastien Award as the AHL's outstanding goaltender. The Barracuda made it to the Western Conference finals during the
2017 Calder Cup playoffs before being eliminated by the
Grand Rapids Griffins four-games-to-one.
The Barracuda were the final team to make the playoffs in 2018, winning multiple games in a row. They were eliminated in the first round by the Tucson Roadrunners.
In 2018–19, the Barracuda led the AHL's Pacific Division for most of the first half of the season before the
Bakersfield Condors went on a 17-game winning streak, and finished in second place in the division, four points behind the Condors. The Barracuda lost in the first round of the
2019 Calder Cup playoffs three games to one against the
San Diego Gulls.
During the
2019–20 season, head coach Sommer was called up to the Sharks as an assistant after over 21 seasons as the Sharks' AHL affiliate head coach. The Sharks named Barracuda assistants
Jimmy Bonneau and Michael Chiasson as co-coaches for Sommer's replacements. In January 2020, the city of San Jose approved of a proposed 4,200-seat arena to be built at the Sharks'
Solar4America Ice complex that would be utilized by the Barracuda for home games and expected to be completed by 2022. The 2019–20 season then ended prematurely due to the restrictions caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Sommer returned to the Barracuda as head coach on September 22, 2020. The start of the
2020–21 season was postponed during the pandemic and
Santa Clara County eventually barred all indoor and contact sporting events until at least February 2021. The AHL season schedule was announced to begin on February 5, causing the Barracuda to play its opening home games in
Tucson
Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
against the
Tucson Roadrunners before embarking on a seven-game road trip, as well as scheduling some games at
Solar4America Ice due to the Sharks's home schedule at SAP Center.
On May 18, 2022, the Barracuda named development coach and former team captain
John McCarthy as the second head coach in franchise history. Sommer moved to an advisory position.
Beginning the
2022-23 AHL season, the Barracuda will begin play at the TechCU Arena.
Season-by-season records
Mascot
Frenzy the Barracuda is the mascot for the San Jose Barracuda.
Players
Current roster
Updated May 7, 2025.
Team captains
*
Bryan Lerg, 2015–16
*
John McCarthy, 2016–20
*
Jaycob Megna, 2021–22
*
Andrew Agozzino, 2022–23
*
Radim Simek, 2023–24
*
Jimmy Schuldt, 2024–present
Team records
''Records as of the end of the
2023–24 AHL regular season''
;Single season records
:Goals: 26,
Andrew Agozzino (2022-23)
:Assists: 42,
Tim Heed (2016–17)
:Points: 61, Andrew Agozzino (2022–23)
:Penalty minutes: 192,
Scott Sabourin (2023–24)
:Wins: 30,
Troy Grosenick (2016–17)
:GAA: 2.04, Troy Grosenick (2016–17)
:SV%: .926, Troy Grosenick (2016–17)
:Shutouts: 10, Troy Grosenick (2016–17)
*Goaltending records need a minimum 25 games played by the goaltender
;Single playoff records
:Goals: 9,
Ryan Carpenter (2016-17)
:Assists: 8, Ryan Carpenter (2016-17)
:Points: 17, Ryan Carpenter (2016-17)
:Penalty minutes: 41,
Timo Meier (2016-17)
References
External links
Official website
{{California sports
American Hockey League teams
1
Professional ice hockey teams in California
Sports in San Jose, California
Ice hockey clubs established in 2015
2015 establishments in California