This season, which hopefully will be the 99th in program history, also marks the 50th anniversary of BU’s first NCAA championship. Led by Head Coach Jack Kelley and Captain Steve Stirling, the Terriers were a dominant force all season, producing 14- and 12-game unbeaten streaks, en route to a 28-2-1 record. A juggernaut offense that averaged 6.8 goals per game complemented a stingy defense that yielded just 1.91 goals per game—still a Terrier record.
To celebrate the 1970-71 title team’s golden anniversary, a season-long series of THFB posts will include each game account—on the date it was played—and other feature posts, beginning today with a Q&A interview with Jack Parker, who was the youngest member of Jack Kelley’s coaching staff that season. The first game account will appear on Friday, reporting on the season-opener on the road against St. Louis University.
Q&A With Jack Parker: Looking Back on BU’s First National Championship
In the fall of 1970, Jack Parker became a volunteer assistant coach under legendary BU Head Coach Jack Kelley. Parker, who later would lead the Terriers for 40 seasons, had been a BU captain just three years earlier. With Kelley’s passing two months ago and Assistant Coach Bob Crocker having died two years ago, Parker is one of two remaining members of the ’70-’71 coaching staff. The other one is goalie coach Andy Fila. Parker recently shared his thoughts about BU’s first NCAA championship team.
THFB—The 1969-70 team, after a slow start, had won 16 of its final 19 before a tough last-second loss to Clarkson in the ECAC semifinal. Looking ahead that Spring, what did the coaches assess the prospects to be for the next season and the chances to challenge for a national title?
JP—It was very disappointing to lose [in the ’70 ECACs]. We had a very solid team that really came on the second half of the year. A great sophomore class and a big senior group with some star players. Even before that season had ended, we knew the next season was going to be something special, because Jack Kelley and Bob Crocker had recruited two fabulous classes back-to-back. That’s how you usually win big, when you have two really successful classes back to back. [The ’68-’69 freshman team went undefeated; the ’69-’70 frosh only lost twice].
One thing we didn’t have in ’69-’70 was a real solid defense. We had some pretty good players, but nothing like what we added the next season in Bob Brown, Ric Jordan and Mike LaGarde. Brown and Jordan were great offensive players and LaGarde was a terrific defensive defenseman. We knew the next season was going to be a pretty good year, but we weren’t thinking so much about winning a national championship; Jack had such a bad track record in the ECAC semis that he was just hoping to win an ECAC championship. [BU had lost in the ECAC semifinals five of the previous six seasons].
THFB—Do you see a similarity between the ’70 loss to Clarkson and the ’08 season-ending loss to Vermont as motivation to address unfinished business? Did Coach Kelley use that loss as a motivator the next season?
JP—I don’t think so. The big motivator was that we’d lost again in the ECAC finals again. We needed to get to the [ECAC] championship game and that would get you to the national tournament. Winning that Friday night game was very important to them and to the history of the program.
Looking ahead
BU
has received a commitment for 2021-22 from Maryland Black Bears right-shot
defenseman Thomas Jarman. A 6’3” native of Pittsburgh, Jarman is in his third
season with the Bears and had a 4-13-17 line last season for the NAHL team. He
was a teammate of Terrier sophomore Wilmer Skoog, who joined BU midway through
the 2019-20 campaign. Previously, Jarman played for the Omaha AAA Lancers 16U
and skated in the USA Hockey Select Festivals in 2017 (U15) and 2019 (U17).
NEHJ's Jeff Cox reports that "Jarman isn’t the household name of many of BU’s recruits, but it’s a solid commit for the Terriers. He’s likely to stay all four seasons, provide depth, and be more of a defensive defenseman, unlike many of the program’s NHL draft picks on the blue line."
● MarylandBlackBears.com report
● Elite Prospects page
Women’s Team
The Boston Hockey offers a preview of the 2020-21 Terriers, who are ranked #7 in the USCHO weekly poll.
● Boston Hockey Blog report
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