Parker on the Mend after Surgery
Veteran hockey coach underwent bypass operation
Jack Parker, longtime Terrier men’s hockey coach and executive director of athletics, is recovering from heart bypass surgery, which was performed on July 23.
Mike Lynch, a BU assistant vice president and director of athletics, says the 65-year-old Parker (SMG’68, Hon.’97) is recuperating at home from the planned surgery and is expected to be healthy for the start of this year’s hockey season.
“I am working under the assumption that we can all plan to see Jack behind the bench this season, leading the Terriers for a 38th season,” Lynch says. “I have been in regular contact with Jackie, his wife, and all went—and continues to go—extremely well.”
Parker’s tenure as head coach at BU extends back to 1973. He has since won more than 800 games, the first college hockey coach in NCAA history to reach that mark at one school. Over almost four decades at the helm, his teams have won more than 40 championships, including 3 NCAA Division 1 titles, 21 Beanpots, 7 Hockey East titles, and 4 consecutive ECAC titles. Parker has seen 19 of his players compete in the Olympics, including 4 members of the 1980 U.S. “Miracle on Ice” team that won the gold medal in Lake Placid. More than 40 of his players have gone on to the NHL.
After winning the 2009 NCAA championship, BU finished last season with an overall record of 18-17-3 (13-12-2 in Hockey East). The Terriers open their 2010-2011 season in St. Louis, Mo., against Wisconsin in the annual Ice Breaker Tournament, which begins October 8.
In the interim, associate head coach Mike Bavis (CAS’93) and the rest of the staff will prepare the Terriers for action. According to Lynch, Bavis and Parker have met twice since the surgery.
“I’d imagine Coach Parker is pretty anxious to get back to Agganis Arena,” Lynch says, “and knowing him, it will be sooner rather than later.”
Caleb Daniloff can be reached at cdanilof@bu.edu.
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