Boston University hockey coach Jack Parker, first on the all-time wins list among active coaches with 685 victories in 30-plus seasons, will be spotlighted by College Sports Television in its next installment of “Coach.” The new installment will air Friday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. (ET).
CSTV began its Coach series earlier this year, beginning with a profile of former Minnesota coach Herb Brooks. Parker is the first active college hockey coach to be featured on the program.
“Coach explores the special bonds great coaches develop with their players, and how the lessons learned by the players endure long after their playing days are over,” said a release from CSTV.
The program includes interviews with Parker, associate head coach Brian Durocher, former Terrier and Olympic stars Mike Eruzione and Jim Craig, and former BU players Mike Sullivan (the current Boston Bruins’ head coach), Mike Grier, Tom Poti and Dan LaCouture (currently with the New York Rangers). Travis Roy, who was paralyzed after a collision just 11 seconds into his first game at Boston University in 1995, talks about his injury and how the BU community, led by Parker, rallied around him. Also interviewed is Mike Bavis, a former Terrier forward and current assistant head coach whose twin brother Mark, also a former BU player, was a passenger on the ill-fated United flight 175 on Sept. 11, 2001.
Now in his 31st season as the Terriers’ head coach, Parker has compiled an overall record 685-344-71. His teams have won two NCAA Division I titles and 18 Beanpots. His teams have won 20 or more games 20 times, while he has guided the Terriers to the NCAA Tournament 19 times.
The Jack Parker feature will also air Saturday, Jan. 3 (8:30 p.m. ET), Jan. 6 (10 p.m. ET), Jan. 10 (9 p.m. ET) and Jan. 18 (10:30 p.m. ET). CSTV is currently available on DirecTV Channel 610, and Adelphia and Insight cable systems.
In one exchange in the program, Parker and Eruzione are discussing the decision for Eruzione to attend BU. Parker first saw Eruzione play while refereeing a game.
“I remember seeing you play, and I grabbed you on the ice and said, ‘Where you going to school next year, Mike?’,” Parker says during the show. “And you said that you were going to Merrimack College. … And I said, ‘How come not a Division I school?’ And you said nobody talked to you in Division I, and I immediately said, ‘Well, I’m talking to you.'”
Says Eruzione, “You think about what would have happened if I hadn’t played in that summer game, you hadn’t been refereeing the game; forget the fact that I would never have played there, but I probably would have never played on the Olympic team.”
Parker: “Yeah, that’s right. … So look what you owe me!”
