The 800 Club

With a 3-1 road victory over Merrimack on Friday night, Terrier hockey coach Jack Parker joined an elite group of collegiate coaches with 800 career victories. Only former Michigan State coach Ron Mason and Boston College coach Jerry York have more, and Parker is the first coach in NCAA history to win 800 games at one school.

“I’m old,” Parker says about the significance of the victory. “I’ve been here a long time — that’s the reason you get 800 wins. I’ve also had over these 36 seasons some fabulous assistant coaches who have recruited some great players.”

Matt Gilroy (CAS’09) scored a goal and added an assist in Friday’s game to help the second-ranked Boston University men’s team claim the victory. It was the Terriers’ fifth straight win, making their record 19-5-1 on the year, with a 12-5-1 Hockey East mark.

“Jack Parker epitomizes the very best in college coaching, and the milestone of his 800th victory is a testimony to the quality of his program and his skill as a leader on and off the ice,” says BU President Robert A. Brown. “The whole BU community is beaming with pride today.”

Parker (SMG’68, Hon.’97), who has coached the team since 1973, has led the Terriers to 2 NCAA titles, 4 consecutiveEastern College Athletic Conference crowns, 20 Beanpots, and 6Hockey East titles. He spoke with BU Today earlier this year about his 36 seasons on the bench. 

BU Today: What has changed since 1973?
Parker:The University has changed drastically. The campus has changed; theperception of the University academically has changed. You can’t giveenough kudos to John Silber for that. I’ll never forget — we had justwon the national championship in 1971–72, and John came to his firsthockey banquet. He got up and said his goal was to make the Universityworthy of the hockey team. He certainly did that.

Theadmissions process has made it more difficult to get hockey players inhere, or any athlete in here, because it’s a tougher school to get intonow. But we also have the ability to compete against Ivy Leagueschools. Back in the 1970s, if kids were choosing between BU andHarvard, or BU and Dartmouth, we wouldn’t get them. Now we’re surprisedif we don’t get them.

What about the students?
The type of individual we get on this campus, and the type ofindividual we get to play on our hockey team, is completely differentthan it was in the ’70s. Some of that is good, some of it is notso good. The word that jumps out at me is self-centeredness. It’s sucha problem to overcome in our society.

Our success in puttingguys in the NHL has been good and bad for us. The bad part is that mostof our guys come here thinking they want to be NHL players. I tell thisto every single recruit: I would bet the mortgage on my house that youdon’t make your living playing pro hockey. I tell that kid, I win thatbet 95 percent of the time.

What does it take to shape a bunch of rowdy teenagers into a winning team?
My job is not to motivate these guys. My jobis to have knowledge enough about my sport to teach them skills andteam play. Motivation, in my mind, comes from within. It’s my job toput my players in an enthusiastic environment, so they can motivatethemselves.

I took a more in-your-face, my-way-or-the-highwayapproach during the early part of my career; now it’s a morepsychological approach. And of course the final convincer is ice time.You don’t do it, you won’t play.

What do you like to do when you’re not at the rink?
I play tennis, I sail. I’m also a movie buff. And I read a lot ofhistory. If I’m jacked up after a game, the best thing to do is open abook.

What are you proudest of?
I always say that the lowest point in my coaching career was TravisRoy’s injury. [In 1995, Roy (COM’00) suffered a paralyzing injury inhis first BU hockey game.] The thing I’m proudest of is the way myuniversity and the hockey community rallied around Travis. It was sucha devastating time for him and his family, and for our hockey family.The way the University got Travis back on campus and made it viable forhim to complete his education — I was extremely proud. And the amountof fundraising that was done, by people like Bobby Orr and MikeEruzione (SED’77), to make sure he’d be comfortable in his life, andultimately to allow him to start his own foundation and help others . .. the University helped a tragic situation get a little better.

What about a personal accomplishment?
Having the rink built was really something [Agganis Arena’s Jack ParkerRink, named in 2005]. And then to have the University name it after me— that’s obviously something I’ll never forget. It’s the kind of thingthat usually doesn’t happen to people until they’re dead. I have a twinbrother, and he used to joke that he’d gladly support the new rink if itwere called the Jack Parker Memorial Rink.

This story originally ran in the 2008–2009 issue of Bostonia magazine.