Infographic by Meredith Perri/DFP Staff
Throughout those 40 years, Parker has been the one static figure with the BU hockey program. He has led the team to three national championships, coached 23 Olympians and kept the Terriers at the pinnacle of college hockey.
Parker took the head coaching job on Dec. 21, 1973, after former BU coach Leon Abbott was fired for “deliberately” evading NCAA and ECAC rules about the eligibility of two Canadian-born players. Parker inherited a team that went 11-17-1 the previous season, and led it to a 19-6 record with him behind the bench.
His early success did not stop there. He coached the Terriers to a 26-5-1 record and an ECAC championship in 1974-75, which began a streak of four consecutive ECAC championships. However, Parker briefly considered leaving for another coaching opportunity after his third season as head of the Terriers.
Parker said he was disappointed that he was not getting the raise he wanted from BU, so he considered taking an open position at Yale University. But he didn’t even make it to Yale for his interview before realizing he did not want to leave BU.
“I got on the road to go to the interview and I realized what a sham this is. I love BU,” Parker said. “I’ll never forget it. I pulled over at the Ashford Hotel — a motel on the way to New Haven — and I said, ‘Hey, I can’t come down and see you. Frankly, the only reason I went down is to get a raise from BU and it wouldn’t be fair to you.’ I knew very early on that this was the job for me.”
The return to BU worked out for Parker. He won his first national title in his fifth season behind the bench, topping cross-town rival Boston College 5-3 in the finals. It was to be the first of several for Parker, who won three national titles in his coaching tenure.
The 1980s were a bit of a dull spot in Parker’s career record-wise. The Terriers had a losing record in their conference five times and failed to make the conference tournament three times. Even with the off years, Parker still won three Beanpots and made the NCAA tournament twice.
However, Parker’s teams dominated the 1990s, as they won eight Beanpots and went to the NCAA tournament nine times. Of those nine times, he advanced to the championship game four times and won it in 1995 with future NHL stars Chris Drury, Mike Grier and Jay Pandolfo on the roster.
Moments after the national championship banner was raised into the rafters at Walter Brown Arena the following season, tragedy struck. Then-freshman Travis Roy suffered a serious spine injury 11 seconds into his first shift, leaving him a quadriplegic.
Parker called the incident a profound moment in his life.
“He’s a fabulous ambassador to this university, he’s a fabulous example of getting over adversity,” Parker said. “That was a turning point in my life, and I’m really close to him and his family and I always will be, and he’s really close to my family.”
Roy is just one of the former players Parker grew close to over his years as coach. In fact, Parker pointed to the relationships he developed with players as the thing he enjoyed most about coaching at BU. It was those relationships that helped convince him to stay at BU when the Boston Bruins offered him the head coaching position in 1997.
“I seriously thought about the Bruins job because it was an easy one to do, you know, Jackie Parker from Somerville becomes the Boston Bruins coach. That’d be pretty easy to do,” Parker said. “I kept telling myself, think beyond the press conference, get your ego out of the way, and when I told [former Bruins general manager Harry Sinden] I wasn’t taking the job, he said, ‘I knew you weren’t taking it.’
“I said, ‘What do you mean you knew? It was like a five-day ordeal, you know?’ He says, ‘Yeah, I’d imagine, but when you’re walking around BU and people say, ‘Hey, how’s it going, Coach,’ and former players say hello – that never happens here.’ That was a different world, and I don’t think I would have survived in that world.”
So Parker remained BU’s coach through the 2000s, making seven more NCAA tournaments and winning another national championship — this time in 2009. Parker’s final national championship squad earned him his third Spencer Penrose trophy as the NCAA Coach of the Year.
Some thought that Parker would retire after that season, as he had already cemented his legacy as one of the greatest college hockey coaches of all time. However, Parker was not finished.
“One of my great friends in coaching, [former Yale coach] Timmy Taylor, said to me the next season, ‘Gee, I thought you’d retire after that national championship,’” Parker said. “But we’re not doing this just to win the national championship. A lot of people would be very disappointed in their careers and in themselves if the only way they got satisfaction was to win a national championship.”
Two seasons after the national championship, Parker’s program came under scrutiny after two players were arrested in separate off-ice incidents. The incidents led to a task force investigation in his program that found a “culture of sexual entitlement” on his hockey team.
“People have asked whether this will tarnish my legacy here or will this be a bad thing for the University in the long run,” Parker said. “The only way I can put this for you is that people have their opinions of what went on. Everybody is welcome to their opinion. People who I am most concerned about know what BU hockey is all about.”
Parker is not yet finished as BU’s coach. He still has an upcoming Hockey East quarterfinals series against Merrimack College coming up at the end of this week, and will look to improve his 894-471-115 record.
If Parker is going to reach 900 career wins, his team will have to make the Frozen Four.
“I don’t really feel like I’m not the coach anymore, because I’m not yet,” Parker said. “Tomorrow I’m going to practice with these guys. We are getting ready for Merrimack. I would say the emotions will hit me later on.”
An earlier version of this post stated that Tony Amonte was part of the 1995 NCAA championship team, which is incorrect. Amonte last played for BU in 1991.
Thank you for a wonderful article on Jack. He has been great for BU. In fact, he is a major “face” of BU and will continue to be so.
One thing I would ask. Please check your facts on Leon Abbot. I think you may be wrong on the reasons for his dismissal.
Tony Amonte wasn’t on the 1995 championship team. Perhaps you’re thinking of Mike Grier?
Fixed. Thanks.
Lately, i admit, i have been one of his biggest critics. Today i feel sad. when i think of how many highs he has brought me with his teams winning so many championships, it makes me think that sometimes you don’t feel gratitude until it is gone. anyways, thank you coach parker
I too have been a big critic of late but the job he has done to bring this team to a position of respect and good play on the ice is outstanding. I hope they go outside and get a coach with jr experience and young.
‘go outside”? i would like to see it too, but there is NO way that would happen