Brian Durocher on Jack Parker: ‘He has had a legacy that will be hard to match, ever, in college hockey’

By Annie Maroon/DFP Staff

Boston University women’s hockey coach Brian Durocher played for men’s coach Jack Parker and worked for him as an assistant on the way to his current position, where he’s turned the BU women’s team into one of the nation’s best.

Fresh off leading his team to its second straight Hockey East championship Sunday, Durocher said that if reports of Parker’s retirement are true, he’d be sorry to see him go, but glad to see him leave on his own terms.

“He’s been fantastic for Boston University hockey, and if that’s his decision, I’m absolutely elated that he’s made it on his own and had a career that very few, if any have had,” Durocher said. “An unbelievable accomplishment that every person associated with Boston University and college hockey is very respectful of…He has had a legacy that will be hard to match, ever, in college hockey.”

Durocher said Parker’s 40 years of success at BU are particularly impressive because a tenure that long shows an ability to change with the times. He said Parker’s intelligence and decisiveness have been two of his greatest strengths as a coach.

“As a coach, what I tried to do was try to see the game from the bench like he did,” Durocher said. “He was somebody that always knew what was going on out there and somebody that knew what other teams were doing out there against him.”

“The biggest thing that made him a fantastic coach was he was always able, due to his intelligence, to make great decisions for the team in the spur of the moment,” Durocher continued. “As an assistant coach, you can think about things, you can wake up the next day and make a decision – and I’m not talking about on-ice decisions, [but] decisions that influence the character of the team and the personality of the team, and I think Jack has always done a fantastic job of that.”

With BU entering the Hockey East quarterfinals next weekend, Durocher said Parker’s official retirement announcement – expected to come at a 3 p.m. press conference Monday at Agganis Arena – could energize his team for the postseason.

“You could call it surprise, you could call it disappointment, because we lose a great friend and mentor and a fantastic coach, but when somebody does it on their own terms, it’s great,” Durocher said. “And maybe this young team that he’s coaching will have a little extra energy to go after it in the playoffs and send him off with a bang.”