Boston University assistant Ben Smith was named
head coach at Dartmouth on Friday. BU went 167-114-6
with Smith as Jack Parker's right-hand man over the past
eight years. In 1987-88, Smith left the Terriers to serve
as an assistant coach of the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team.
Parker noted that Smith had helped Tim Taylor turn around
Yale in the early 80s and had a huge impact on BU in the
area of recruiting. This is one of Smith's strong points
and should result in an improved Dartmouth team over the
next few years.
After Jeff Kosak resigned to return to Hotchkiss in
Connecticut after ten days on the job at Dartmouth, Maine
assistant and former Bruin Bruce Crowder was offered the
Dartmouth job on May 2, but on May 7 the offer was rescinded
for "philosophical differences". Anyone else know about
this? I can guess...
Another factor in Smith's leaving, I believe, is that when
Parker announced he was stepping down in January 1989
to become AD (two weeks later, he decided he wanted
to stay as coach), Smith was not given much consideration
in the media and around BU as Parker's replacement. Smith
is a Harvard grad and the school reportedly wanted a BU grad
like Buddy Powers (RPI; RIT at the time), Ron Anderson
(Merrimack), or Steve Stirling (Babson; formerly Providence).
Smith was clearly the most qualified man for the job. He
may have decided he didn't want to take his chances with
sticking around at BU to see if he would get the job whenever
Parker leaves - which looks like it will not be for a long
time now.
Smith is the second BU assistant to leave after this season.
Pertti Hasanen resigned to become an agent and help players
pursue careers in Europe (including his native Finland). That
deprives BU of its source of players like Peter Ahola and
Petteri Koskimaki, two freshman from Finland who played well
this year.
I guess this leaves Bill Berglund, goalie coach, as Parker's
top assistant. Don't underestimate Berglund; though, he plays
a key role in motivating the team and is a good hockey man.
His move from Northeastern to BU last year, after he had
coached Bruce Racine and Rich Burchill to becoming two of the
nation's top goalies, had a lot to do with NU's Tom Cole having
a sub-par year and with BU freshman Scott Cashman winning Rookie
of the Year and backstopping the Terriers to the NCAA semifinals.
Also, we should hear within a week or so whether or not BU's
leading goal-scorer, Joe Sacco (Medford, MA), will return for
his senior year or if he will sign with Toronto. That would be
strike three if Sacco goes and will really hurt the Terriers
next year as Sacco is not only one-third of the Commonwealth Line,
he kills penalties and is a serious shorthanded threat (not to
mention the power play). In a 5-2 Hockey East quarterfinal win
over Northeastern in March, Sacco scored all 5 of BU's goals.
- mike
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