Barracuda on Why “Be a Pig” Is Special, Past Playoff Mottos, Other Post-Season Traditions

The San Jose Barracuda are riding the playoff motto “Be a Pig”. It’s not the most obvious motto a team has ever adopted.

Russian goalie Yaroslav Askarov wasn’t too sure about it, telling the media after the San Jose Sharks’ AHL affiliate’s 2-0 shutout victory over the Ontario Reign in Game One on Thursday, “I can’t explain. I’m not American.”

Of course, that didn’t stop Askarov from sporting the shirt on Friday after practice.

Captain Jimmy Schuldt said it’s about something very simple – being committed.

“It’s just a sign of being committed, our little inside thing,” Schuldt said. “It’s not a crazy explanation, just we wanted something to joke about and make T-shirts. It’s been a little thing for us.”

Game 1 Takeaways: “Be a Pig” Is Barracuda Playoff Motto, 2-0 Shutout Over Reign https://t.co/iwqbsMWHk3

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Pavol Regenda elaborated: “The pig [is] a sacrifice for breakfast, like you have bacon. You gotta kill the pig. So it’s the biggest sacrifice, we’re going to sacrifice for each other on the ice.”

While this is head coach John McCarthy’s first experience in the playoffs behind the bench, he’s been part of plenty of post-season squads as a player. He look a long view of why playoff mottos matter.

“The advantage of it is that it makes [the season] feel new. The season’s long, and the biggest thing you can do in playoffs is like, hey, that’s done with, now we’re starting new, fresh,” McCarthy said. “Meetings are different – have different [tone] in the meetings and all, anything you can do to make it feel different.”

Regenda originally credited Schuldt as the originator of the motto, but it actually came from Barracuda assistant coach Louis Mass, who runs the defense and penalty kill.

“We had a bad game, early in the season, where guys weren’t blocking shots and stuff, so he said, ‘You need to be a pig,’” alternate captain Andrew Poturalski said. “I think guys started buying in. When guys were blocking shots, guys were oinking at him on the bench, and stuff like that. It’s just a funny little thing that kind of got guys to buy in.”

It’s a quote from a Hall of Famer, Broad Street Bullies head coach Fred Shero, who said, “When you have bacon and eggs for breakfast, the chicken makes a contribution, the pig makes a commitment.”

Schuldt said he’s done unifying things like the “Be a Pig” motto before on past teams.

“I remember in high school, we would always make a rule that you couldn’t cut your hair,” Schuldt said. “Throughout the year, just try to see how long your hair can get. And it got kind of long by the end of the year. Youth hockey one time, we dyed our hair – was just something to do together, and you look goofy when you go in public, blonde hair, but it’s just a fun thing to do together.”

Walker Duehr and Aaron Dell remembered past playoff mottos.

“The years I was with [the Calgary Flames organization], we always had some type of motto going in, similar to ‘Be a Pig,’ and usually get some T-shirts and sweatshirts made up with with the saying on it,” Duehr said. “One year with the Wranglers, maybe it was like, ‘All pull the rope’ or something.”

Dell remembered one from, he thinks, Pete DeBoer’s San Jose Sharks’ teams.

“Everything for the most part [throughout my career] has been pretty standard stuff. Like, ‘If you’re not all in, you’re out,’ and stuff like that. It’s generally something inspirational like that,” Dell said. “It’s a little bit more fun when you have something like this, where it’s an inside joke a little bit that way, where if someone else saw it, they’re ‘What is the point of that?’ but it means something to us. That’s a little bit more unique, and it’s a little bit cooler that way.”

“Lots of cliches over the years,” 2015 Calder Cup champion Scott Sabourin said, struggling to remember one that stuck.

“Be a Pig” isn’t cat poster material, which is perhaps what makes it so memorable.

When it comes to another playoff tradition, Scott Sabourin, who has the best Cuda beard this side of Joe Thornton, said Colin White has the best chance to grow a competing playoff beard. Young Jack Thompson is his dark horse pick.

“I take that as the ultimate compliment,” Sabourin said of the comparison to Jumbo. “I’ll probably let [the beard] rage here for a little bit.”

Anyway, the Barracuda won their first-round series, meaning so far, the motto seems to be doing the trick.

Schuldt credited assistant equipment manager Josh Woodard for arranging the design.

But if you’re looking to pick up your own “Be a Pig” shirt, Schuldt said, “We’ll see. I think it might just be our thing.”