By Annie Maroon/DFP Staff
On what it’s like to see Parker call it a career: “I think he’s going to enjoy coaching down the stretch here as much as he ever enjoyed it, knowing the next recruit isn’t going to be his responsibility right now, knowing he doesn’t have to get on a plane to western Canada to close some deal.
“Just to be able to stay employed in one situation for 40 years speaks volumes about the type of character he is. But to be able to do it under the public’s eye, under the pressure he’s been in, you can’t help but tell his character, his wit, his sense of humor and his intelligence are at the highest levels. You wouldn’t survive otherwise.”
On good anecdotes involving Parker: “Most of them center around food. Jack used to always tease me. I would stop a meeting if I thought the pizza was at the door. I could think about a situation at Michigan State where we had a couple of kids with a couple of coeds from Michigan State. Jack was furious about, ‘I told these kids, no one in the room after 9 o’clock. No women in the room.’
“I go up there and there’s a couple of women in the room, and then there’s one even in the closet that I had to exit out. So Jack, being the rational guy he was, would never overreact and say, ‘This is what I’m going to do to you.’ He would say, ‘I’m going to get back to you guys.’ And then he’d come down and sort it all out so he made a good decision. So he came down to the room and I was there and he told me this story, pizza boxes up there, and all sorts of things up there, kids were partying with the girls.
“And he taps me on the shoulder. ‘So what would you do?’ I stopped him in his tracks and asked him if there was any pizza left. He never let me forget that.
“‘We’ll get to that other part, but did you bring the pizza back?’ So those are the types of things. We used to wrestle when we were younger. We’d get frustrated with a discussion and we’d just start wrestling, just like former players, but we were in our 20s at the time.”
On his first impression of Parker: “I thought he was pretty cool, actually. You go in his office and he is fast-talking and he is laid-back and he makes you feel comfortable. He is someone that you wanted to play for and enjoyed being around. I think he is that way today.”
On what people were saying about Parker and the program last year: “I was disappointed and a little bit upset that people were saying things about him that weren’t true, and things about the program that weren’t true. I don’t know if there is a stricter coach as far as what these kids can do and can’t do around here. I know how seriously he takes the school’s reputation. It is a little bit upsetting to hear but at the same time the people who really know what goes on here know that he did a great job and that he did all he could.”
Junior defenseman and assistant captain Garrett Noonan
On his reaction to the news: “Definitely really sad … but I’m really glad that he’ll get to enjoy his time with his grandkids. I know how much they mean to him. Coach means so much to us, and we’ll miss him so much.”
On Parker’s competitive nature: “I can’t believe he’s as competitive as he is but he’s such a gracious loser. The combination is something I’ve never seen before in anybody. The best thing for me is, I know after a win or a loss he’s ready to go, ready to talk. That’s what I like the best. I can’t get over how gracious of a loser he is. He’s the same way around the opposing coach.
“He always likes to see the opposing coach again, shake hands on the ice and after the press. He’ll always stop and see them, especially at our place, even if he has to go back to the bus.”
Senior forward and captain Wade Megan
On what he’s learned from Parker: “He has taught me as much about the game of hockey as he has about life. Whether he knows that or not, a lot of the stuff that he has passed onto me is not just stuff I will use in hockey, but I’ll use it in my everyday life. I think I speak for all of the former players when I say that he is not just a hockey coach, he is a life coach. I’m just grateful that he not only gave me the opportunity to be here, but that he gave me the opportunity to be the captain of this hockey team.”
Freshman center Danny O’Regan
On only playing one year for Parker: “Coming in, I had a feeling he maybe wasn’t going to be here all four years anyway. I mean, we’ve just got to finish the year strong and hopefully win something for him.”
On his experience with Parker compared to that of his father (who played for BU in the 1980s): “I heard he has actually calmed down a lot … We kind of compare stories, and it seems like not a lot has changed, actually.”
Senior defenseman Sean Escobedo
On how Parker handled the task force: “I think he handled it the best way anyone could. He was up front with us about it, made sure that we were OK. The first thing that was always on his mind was us. He didn’t really care about himself too much. He was just making sure that we were OK, we were sticking together and that we were going to pull through this. He always remained positive with us and he made sure that we were a family and that we stayed that way.”
On Parker’s sense of humor: “Bad recycled lines for years. He likes to use one with me, ‘I was born during the day, but not yesterday.’ Every time I try to pull a quick one on him he just throws that one at me. ‘Don’t make me laugh, I have chapped lips.’ He always uses that one. He’s got a couple good lines and he is not afraid to use them. That’s for sure.”
On what that second line means: “I don’t know. But he loves it. He’ll laugh at himself and walk away.”
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