Boston U Hockey Coach Jack Parker Retiring

Submitted by bacon1431 on

Very surprised that I couldn't find a post about this on mgoblog. Parker is one of the three remaining coaching legends in college hockey from the 80s-present (Red and York being the others). My friend's brother played at BU in the recent past and had nothing but great things to say about the guy. 

Just like Red and York, he coached at his alma mater, so you gotta enjoy stories like that. I know we don't play them much but I thought it was relevant news. They have alot of options with BU ties to replace him, both in house and in the NHL coaching ranks. Here's a nice write up on CHN: Link . He'll be stepping down at the end of the season. Always sad to see the legends go. 

chewieblue

March 12th, 2013 at 11:29 PM ^

who played on the most meaningful hockey team ever assembled..... Eruzione, O'Callahan, Silk and Craig.

I love Brooks but Parker is right up there too.

BrownJuggernaut

March 13th, 2013 at 10:14 AM ^

My friend works for CHN covering Hockey East. He mentioned Dave Quinn, an Avs assistant, as the favorite. Another guy he mentioned was Mike Bavis. I don't think BU will have any shortage of candidates. It'll be about picking the right guy to reform the "culture of entitlement" but keeps the winning tradition. It should be interesting to see what happens. Parker is going to have a say in who succeeds him.

chatster

March 13th, 2013 at 7:26 AM ^

A friend of mine (Boston University alum) who follows the team sent me links to features about Boston University Men's Ice Hockey Coach's retirement at this site: http://terrierhockey.blogspot.com/

After speaking with my friend and reading a few of those features, it seems like Boston University's hockey program has been "under the microscope" during the past two seasons due to some serious off-ice problems.  Their team got off to a good start this season, then had a couple of players leave the team, another get kicked off the team for too many violent penalties, a regular goalie suffer a collapsed lung that has him out for the rest of the season, and then a regular defenseman suffer a season-ending injury last weekend.

BU apparently took advantage of parity at the top of Hockey East and wound up with home ice for their playoffs after taking eight of ten points in their final five games, 

Wonder whether Jack Parker regrets that he didn't retire after this game in 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bGpREk4Cw4

gwkrlghl

March 13th, 2013 at 12:03 PM ^

College hockey has really only existed for about 60-70

I wonder how many more years Jerry York will be around. He still looks/seems fairly young. He's got a chance to be the legend in college hockey considering how many titles and title game appearances he already has

goblueram

March 13th, 2013 at 12:14 PM ^

York is already a legend, and they basically have a dynasty going right now.  

Also, Red now becomes 2nd in wins among acitve coaches.

All-time coaching wins (before this year, I think):

 

  1. Ron Mason 924 
  2. Jerry York 913
  3. Jack Parker 876
  4. Rick Comley 783
  5. Red Berenson 752

chatster

March 13th, 2013 at 1:09 PM ^

American colleges have been playing ice hockey since the early part of the 20th century, but the NCAA’s first national tournament wasn’t until 1948 when Michigan beat Dartmouth for the championship. The growth in American college hockey might’ve gotten a boost with the USA’s Olympic gold medal in Squaw Valley in 1960.

By the mid-1960s, a few years after Red Berenson had played his last game for Michigan and when Jack Parker and Jerry York were competing against each other both in high school in Massachusetts and at Boston University and Boston College, respectively, the ECAC and the WCHA were building a good foundation for the growth of the sport. Link to College Hockey Historical Archives: http://www.augenblick.org/chha/

Intriguing side notes about the relationship between Jack Parker and Jerry York, besides having competed against each other for over 50 years, are that each of them had a health scare in recent years (York with prostate cancer; Parker with bypass surgery), and they’re apparently good friends away from the rink. Link: http://www.thebostonhockeyblog.com/2012/02/jack-parker-weighs-in-on-jerry-yorks.html

You think of Bo Schembechler’s 21 seasons of coaching Michigan football, and now Red Berenson’s 29th season of coaching hockey at Michigan, and then you consider that 68-year old Jack Parker has been playing for or coaching at Boston University for 48 of the past 49 years. And none of them approach the record of Eddie Robinson: 57 years coaching football at Grambling. All of them are legends.