Two daughters, 200 sons

by CDRAL

Jack Parker, who retired as BU hockey coach this past spring after 40 seasons, often says that he has “two

daughters and 200 sons.”  Nearly 100 of those “sons" were among a group of 165, including family, friends and BU staff that gathered this past Sunday for a surprise reception honoring  Coach Jack Parker. Speaker after speaker extolled his virtues and summed up what he meant to so many of them as  a coach, a teammate, surrogate father, mentor, and loyal friend. Each and everyone there had their own recollections and many stories--all true—to tell which helped make this a great event. (Parker photo courtesy of Laura Delorey)

The element of surprise worked right up until the moment when Jack arrived at The Ridge Club in Sandwich and saw former BU SID Ed Carpenter, and two of his teammates from the 1960s, Jim Higgins and Rich Green, all of whom were just inside the door to the reception room.

BU Athletic Director Mike Lynch, former BU Head Coach Jack Kelley, Mike Eruzione, John Cooke (Parker’s 4-year linemate) Travis Roy and John McCarthy all spoke, covering Coach Parker’s long and accomplished BU career which began in 1964 and now continues in a new role.  

The camaraderie and celebratory atmosphere of the gathering once again demonstrated that the close-knit BU Hockey Family is second to none in the college game.

● List of former Terriers in attendance  

There are numerous photos of the event on the Friends of BU Hockey Twitter page. Here are a few:

(L-R, Rich Brennan, Kai Linna and Mike Pomichter)

(L-R, Steve Shaunessy, Scott Shaunessy, Jim Craig, and Bob Deraney)

(L-R, Ryan Weston, Brad Zancanaro, Brian Collins, Brian McConnell)

► Sophomore goalie Matt O'Connor talks with USHL.com about his experiences at Stanley Cup Champion Chicago's development camp and about playing in the USHL and for BU. The 6-5 netminder recorded eight victories as a freshman and was named a Hockey East top performer five times.