Boston’s blue bloods are back at Frozen Four
Jack Parker was in an unfamiliar position on Easter Sunday.
The legendary hockey figure, he of the 897 wins and three national titles while coach of the Boston University men’s hockey team for 40 years, had watched his beloved Terriers clinch a spot in the Frozen Four with a 6-3 win over Minnesota the previous day, joining Denver as the first two teams to punch their ticket to St. Paul, Minn.
That left Boston College taking on Quinnipiac, and Michigan facing off against Michigan State, for the final two spots. The Eagles would prevail over the defending national champions, 5-4 in overtime, while Michigan took care of the Spartans, 5-2.
“I was really happy BC won,” said Parker, who retired in 2013. “I have never rooted for BC in my life. But I thought it was pretty cool that BC won, because now it’s a BC, BU, Denver, Michigan group that’s in the Frozen Four, and that’s big time college hockey right there. What I always refer to as brand-name college hockey.”
His longtime adversary down Commonwealth Avenue, Hall of Famer Jerry York, takes a similar view.
“It’s four of the premier programs in the country, and it hasn’t been that way for a long, long time,” said York, who retired in 2022 with an NCAA record 1,123 wins and five national titles, the last four with BC. “This should be a great field.”
The numbers back that up, with the four schools combining for 28 national championships — more than a third of the total awarded. Michigan and Denver are tied for the most with nine, while BC and BU have each won five.
Remarkably, it’s only the fourth time that both BC and BU reached the national semifinals in the same season, and the first since 1990. Safe to say neither school wants a repeat of that tournament, when the Eagles dropped a 2-1 decision to eventual champion Wisconsin and the Terriers lost, 3-2, to Colgate. Serving as
BC captain that season was All American defenseman Greg Brown, now in his second year behind the Eagles bench as the head coach.
The schools met for the title once, in 1978, with the Terriers prevailing, 5-3. Their only other tournament meeting came in the Worcester regional final in 2006, BC routing BU, 5-0.
The teams combined for 16 appearances and six national championships in the York-Parker era, including three straight titles from 2008-10 — BC sandwiched BU’s 2009 win. But they never reached the Frozen Four in the same year, a detail that had York going back to the record book to fact check.
“I truly did not know that,” he said. But they’re both there this year, an impressive turnaround when neither qualified for the 2022 NCAA tournament, which wrapped at TD Garden. Denver and Michigan were in that Frozen Four, along with Minnesota and Minnesota State.
To some, it felt as if the balance of power was shifting to the Big Ten and the NCHC. That was not the feeling within Hockey East.
“I think there was a lot of optimism amongst our coaches, that there were great players on the way coming into the league,” said commissioner Steve Metcalf. “So I don’t think there was ever a point of concern that we weren’t going to be strong in the near future.”
At BC and BU, this was particularly evident.
Lane Hutson hit the ice at Agganis Arena in the fall of 2022 and has become the top defenseman in the country as a sophomore. Last season, he headlined a talented freshman class that included his brother, Quinn, as well as forwards Ryan Greene, Jeremy Wilmer, and Devin Kaplan, which augmented a veteran squad to help the Terriers reach their first Frozen Four in eight years before bowing to Minnesota.
BC struck it rich with the arrival of Cutter Gauthier, the No. 5 pick of the 2022 NHL Draft. He was joined by Bruins’ draft picks Oskar Jellvik and Andre Gasseau. The three have skated together as sophomores, with Gauthier centering the line and leading the nation in goals with 37.
But it was this year’s freshman class that helped vault the Eagles to the No. 1 ranking in the country, starting with the line of first-round picks Gabe Perreault, Will Smith, and Ryan Leonard. That trio has combined for 185 points on 72 goals and 113 assists. Defensemen Drew Fortescue and Aram Minnetian were also part of that class, recruited by York, but it is goaltender Jacob Fowler, who has set an NCAA record for wins by a freshman at 31, that has caught his eye.
“I think he’s probably the biggest recruit, and he came after I was gone,” said York. “So many great players, but he’s been the glue and a key to their success.”
BU has countered with an impressive freshman line of its own, led by Macklin Celebrini. The presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft is, along with Gauthier, a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, which goes to the top men’s college hockey player in the country. Celebrini centers a line with classmates Jack Harvey and Shane Lachance — the son of former Terrier and 13-year NHL veteran Scott and Parker’s grandson.
Parker attended most of BU’s home games in Jay Pandolfo’s first season as head coach last year, and has added a few road trips this season to see Shane play.
“Jay played four years for me and was a captain, so I wanted to support him,” said Parker. “But it makes it a hell of a lot more interesting for me because my grandson is playing now.”
York mostly stayed away from Kelley Rink on game days in his first year of retirement to avoid being a distraction, but has returned for several this season.
“It’s been a lot of fun watching this team. It’s a great club to watch,” said York. “I know just how difficult it is when you have a lot of good players that are used to being the No. 1 guy on their teams, and to get them to mesh like this is very remarkable. I think Greg’s done an outstanding job, and his staff, too. They’ve really made me very, very proud of them.”
The two all-time winningest college hockey coaches will be making the trek to St. Paul, reconnecting with old friends and appearing at alumni functions ahead of Thursday’s games. For one day at least, they’ll share rooting interests.
“It should be an exciting tournament,” said Parker. “Hopefully it will be a Boston final.”