Former Boston University men's ice hockey standout and 2009 national champion John McCarthy has been named head coach of the San Jose Barracuda in the American Hockey League, the organization announced on Wednesday.
McCarthy has spent the last two seasons as a development coach for the Barracuda, the AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks, after serving as an assistant coach for part of the 2019-20 campaign following his retirement as a player.
"I am honored to be named the head coach of the San Jose Barracuda," said McCarthy. "I have been a member of this organization for 13 years and could not be happier to have this opportunity. I'd like to thank the organization for putting their faith in me to lead this group, and I'm excited to get to work on developing the next wave of players for the Sharks."
McCarthy becomes the seventh Terrier to serve as a head coach in the AHL. Five of those Terriers - John Hynes, David Quinn, Joe Sacco, Steve Stirling and Mike Sullivan - went on to become head coaches in the National Hockey League.
Selected by the Sharks in the seventh round of the 2006 NHL Draft, McCarthy holds all major Barracuda franchise records as a player, including games played (275), goals (62), assists (76), points (138), and shorthanded goals (5). He served as the Barracuda team captain from 2016-2019 and also served as the captain of the Worcester Sharks for the 2012-13 season.
In 577 career AHL games with Worcester, Chicago, and San Jose, he collected 297 points (130 goals, 167 assists), 233 penalty minutes and a plus-62 rating. He also posted 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 27 playoff games with the Barracuda over the four seasons, including the team's 2017 appearance in the Western Conference Finals.
McCarthy skated in 88 NHL games with the Sharks between 2009-2016, accumulating six points (three goals, three assists) and 22 penalty minutes. In total, McCarthy appeared in 640 regular season games with San Jose's NHL and AHL franchises.
A native of Andover, Mass., McCarthy was one of four Terriers selected to the United States Men's Olympic Ice Hockey Team in 2018, appearing in five games for Team USA.
Prior to his professional career, McCarthy helped lead the Terriers to their fifth national title in 2009. As a senior co-captain that year, McCarthy set career highs in both goals (6) and assists (23) to total 29 points in 45 games. He was also named to the Hockey East All-Tournament Team that year after leading the Terriers in scoring en route to the conference title. In 145 games at BU, McCarthy scored 14 goals and added 31 assists for 45 points. McCarthy was a two-time recipient of the program's Friends/Albert Sidd Unsung Hero Award, and he also earned the athletic department's John B. Simpson Award for enthusiastic senior leadership.
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