There are many successful and accomplished professors and professionals who teach and work at Boston College, but it would be hard to look past the man who patrols the bench at Kelley Rink as one of the most successful men on this campus. BC men's hockey coach Jerry York is at the top of the collegiate hockey world after coaching his squad to the 2008 national championship. En route to the title, York collected his 800th career victory and is now second all-time on the career wins list and is the active leader with 803 victories.
"If he coaches a few more years, he could probably end up as the all-time winningest coach, which would be pretty special," says hockey player Brock Bradford. "It was nice to get the 800th for him. He never likes to take credit for himself for all his accolades, but we all know that they're there and how special he is."
"It's hard to not think back to the start of my career, and about all of the assistant coaches and players that I've worked with," York says. "It's kind of a unique feeling, you can always get that right player and have a great year, but I've always thought consistency over the long run is going to be the mark of my career."
It was certainly not a season without turmoil, as two defensemen were suspended early in the season and Bradford sustained a season-ending arm injury. Yet the team came together and captured the school's third national title.
That wasn't the only hiccup for this team, which struggled during the month of February and also endured a 1-5-1 stretch, making it look like they might not make the tournament. In late January, the team was struggling, playing undisciplined hockey, and York told his squad that it was disappointing that they probably would not be joining him in Denver.
"I just mentioned to the team after that I was locked into going to Denver, and it'd be a shame that you guys can't come with me," York says. "And we were not going to go to Denver if we kept playing that type of undisciplined hockey. I just said that I'd heard Denver was a great city in the springtime. And I meant it, and that's when we seemed to change."
"It was a shock hearing that out of coach's mouth," says captain Mike Brennan. "But we all needed to listen to him and turn things around for ourselves and the coaching staff."
Spring Break
