They say bad news comes in threes. For Boston College head coach Jerry York, that old adage was never truer than this summer.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that the Eagles’ Brooks Orpik has agreed to pass up his senior year and turn pro. Orpik, a 6-foot-4-inch, 230-pound bruising defenseman whom the Penguins have been high on, recorded two goals and 39 assists in 119 career games for BC, along with 322 penalty minutes. He enjoyed his best year as a junior in helping the Eagles to the 2001 NCAA Championship with 20 assists and 124 penalty minutes.
The Penguins selected Orpik with the 18th pick of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.
Orpik’s departure came on the heels of teammate Chuck Kobasew’s defection to the major junior Kelowna Rockets of the WHL. York is also waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop, as junior to be Krys Kolanos is close to either signing with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes or leaving BC for the WHL while negotiations continue.
The departure of all three underclassmen would put a severe dent in the Eagles’ hopes of repeating as Beanpot, Hockey East and NCAA champions in 2001-02.
But York put on a brave front in a school news release.
“We’re very happy for each of these players, and wish them the best in the future,” York said. “They certainly made great contributions to our program.
“We have a very solid group of players returning, and we’ve added some very promising newcomers to the line-up.”
