Boston University head-coach Jack Parker is one of the top-notch coachs in
college hockey! As if some of you needed to here it from me! *grin*
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about new head-coach Tim Whitehead and anything
praiseful I've said about recently-lost-to-Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder still
holds. I also have strong sentiments that have me wishing heavily on B.U. losing,
which were happily granted the weekend before last. *smile* But when it comes
down to it, I have to admit that what I've seen/heard and witnessed of Parker has
consistently impressed me.
 
It was with mixed emotions that I witnessed the "We hate Parker" chants at Tully
Forum recently. I know that our Lowell fans get over-zealous at times and I
really wouldn't want it any other way. But it was tough to see a great coach get
any undeserved irrespect. "Parker" is synonymous with "BU", so I simply made the
substitution which worked well. *smirk* Of course I never would need to do that
with the "Sucks to BU!" chant.
 
Many, many things have impressed me, but I'll only mention a few. I love it when
I see a coach chastise a player for shooting his mouth off. You hardly ever see a
BU player running his mouth and Parker has a lot to do with that. Occasionally, a
player will taunt an opposing player or "get into it" with an official ... and
invariably you'll see Parker telling him to "shut-up and play hockey" once he
gets to the bench. I'm also privvy to some of the behind-the-scenes stuff with BU
hockey and the attitudes and direction he supplies these players is very
commendable. I've seen a complete maturity happen under Parker's tutelage in a
local boy -  Sean Bates. I'm expecting the see the same results to Lacouture.
Bates had the same admissions problems and now he's doing fine scholastically.
I love how Parker and his organization handled Lacouture's decision to leave
school last semester and despite what all the un-knowing commentators had to say
about the whole incident, I personally know that Parker handled it skillfully and
tactfully.
 
I love Jack Parker's down-to-earth philosophy. He doesn't create this
"hockey-is-everything" mentality. He leads his players into the larger schemes of
life and helps to prepare them for the world ... not just the hockey circuit. He
doesn't do this as a purpose, he just happens to lead this way because he's not
caught up in it all. Last Monday, he was being interviewed before the Beanpot
matchup and the interviewer's whole tact was to picture the "incredulous" notion
of a Beanpot without Parker. He directed this notion to Parker who responded very
colorfully about how nice it might be to be in the Caribbean in February. He
easily diverted the focus off "Jack Parker's Beanpot" and back onto the teams
involved. Last summer, I heard another quote from Parker who had remarked "The
two best things I love about coaching college hockey - July and August!"
 
The reason I was compelled to write these things down was the recent article on
USA Today's College Hockey site. The article is about Boston University's Chris
Drury. The url is "http://web.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/shc/east/shchfs01.htm"
and its definitely worth reading. A small story in the article is a perfect
example of the humility that Parker possesses ... to shove one's pride in the
back pocket in order to correct one's mistakes. It also shows the respect he has
for his players as men, not just hockey players. I loved the quote Dave
Hendrickson had from Parker a few weeks back. It was after BU had tied BC twice
one weekend and then dropped two games the next to HockeyEast's Lowell and Maine
... all of this right after they swept the powerful and high-riding UNH Wildcats
the weekend before. Parker commented on how it appeared his team was
saying/believing "We can beat anyone" one second and then "We can't beat anyone"
the next. Parker's quote was something along the lines of "We're a bunch of
egomaniacs with an inferiority complex!". Its easy to see he's trying to gain
consistent balance instead of any high/low rides. Of course, I'm not too sure
he'd mind a "high" ride all the way through the spring.
 
I'm really curious about what's been going on between Parker and Maine head coach
Sean Walsh. Its must have been something for Walsh to not shake Parker's hand
after the Maine-BU game a few weeks ago. I wonder if Walsh got a hold of some
Parker comments about the whole Maine thing. I guess we'll never know for sure.
 
Lowell fan,
       Paul.
 
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