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A Farewell to Jerry York
After twenty-eight years and four national championships at BC, the legendary hockey coach has retired.
Throughout the thousands of practices and games that made up his career, the legendary BC Hockey Coach Jerry York 鈥67 was rarely seen without a spiral notebook in hand. Generations of York鈥檚 players speculated about just what was written inside. They never found out.
And now, the contents of York鈥檚 notebook will remain a secret forever, as the winningest coach in college hockey history has retired. All told, York coached Division 1 college hockey for fifty years at three different institutions鈥擟larkson University, Bowling Green State University, and BC. Along the way, he won a staggering 1,123 games and five national championships (no other college hockey coach has won 1,000 games). York, who is widely known for his humility, announced his retirement with little fanfare, simply issuing a press release. The end of his 50th season seemed like the right time to step down, he said. 鈥淚 am so blessed to have been involved with md传媒国产剧 College these past twenty-eight years,鈥 he said during a meeting with his players and coaches, 鈥渁nd to have had the opportunity to coach so many wonderful student-athletes.鈥 An outpouring of praise for York followed his announcement. 鈥淛erry York is not just a championship coach,鈥 the renowned sportswriter Mike Lupica 鈥74 tweeted. 鈥淗e is one of the greatest figures in the history of our school. And he is one of the great gentlemen any college sport has ever produced.鈥 The former BC hockey star Blake Bolden 鈥13, who in 2015 became the first African-American woman to compete in the National Women鈥檚 Hockey League, also tweeted her appreciation. 鈥淢y goodness, thank you Coach Jerry York,鈥 Bolden wrote. 鈥淎n icon that has shaped the lives of so many young men and women, including mine.鈥
Speaking of icons, perhaps no one in the world is better qualified to assess York鈥檚 career than his fellow coaching legend Jack Parker, who led the md传媒国产剧 University men鈥檚听hockey program for forty years, won three national championships of his own, and is the third-winningest coach in the听history of college hockey. Parker and York have spent the majority of their lives as friends鈥攁nd fierce on-ice rivals. They both grew up in the md传媒国产剧 area, played against each other first in high school and then in college (York at BC, of course, and Parker at BU), and eventually spent a few decades battling each other as head coaches. That started in the 1970s, when York was coaching Clarkson University and Parker was already at BU. Whenever Parker鈥檚 team would play at Clarkson, Parker recalled, the two head coaches and their assistants would get together at York鈥檚听house to talk hockey over beers. Eventually, their competition would play out on one of the biggest stages in college听hockey. 鈥淏U and BC is an unbelievably heated rivalry,鈥 Parker said. 鈥淲hen games were over we鈥檇 shake hands at center ice. It was always hard to lose to BU or to BC when you were playing each other. And yet it was always an enjoyable handshake. I don鈥檛 remember ever having a bad thought about Jerry York as the head coach.鈥 Well maybe just one, Parker admitted when pressed. That time had to do with York successfully recruiting a player Parker also wanted. Parker couldn鈥檛 remember the player鈥檚 name at first, recalling only that he was a small center. Then it came to him鈥擝rian Gionta. 鈥淚 thought 鈥楤oy, that kid is going to make BC,鈥欌 Parker said.
Gionta 鈥01 did indeed go on to become one of BC鈥檚 greatest athletes ever. As captain, he led the Eagles to the NCAA championship in 2001, BC鈥檚 first since 1949. He then played for sixteen seasons in the NHL. When Gionta heard York was retiring, his first reaction was shock. 鈥淭hat kind of longevity, that kind of run, that kind of success, it鈥檚 unsurpassed in hockey,鈥 he said. But the lesson that has stuck with him after playing for York all those years ago has nothing to do with hockey. 鈥淗e reinforces how you treat people,鈥 Gionta said. 鈥淲hether it is the athletic director,听or it鈥檚 the security guard when you walk in, or it鈥檚 the janitor, the trainer, the equipment manager, everyone is on the听same level. No one is above anyone and no one is below anyone, and everyone is to be treated with respect.鈥
Outgoing BC Hockey Captain Marc McLaughlin 鈥22 may have joined the program two decades after Gionta,听but the lessons were the same. Asked for a memory of听playing under York, the first thing McLaughlin mentioned was the friendship the coach had developed with听a custodian who cleaned the team鈥檚 locker room. 鈥淐oach听York went and introduced himself to him, created a relationship with him, and really made him feel like what he听was doing was important to our team and we were all in this together,鈥 recalled McLaughlin, who recently signed with the md传媒国产剧 Bruins. Later in the season, York brought the custodian in again to give the Eagles a motivational speech before the playoffs. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just little stuff like that,鈥 McLaughlin said. 鈥淗e really went beyond the hockey aspect of being a coach.鈥
Several of York鈥檚 former players have gone on to hold prominent positions in the NHL. Among them is George McPhee, who won the Hobey Baker Award as the nation鈥檚 outstanding player while playing for York at Bowling Green and today is president of hockey operations for the Vegas Golden Knights. McPhee said that he always admired York鈥檚 personality at Bowling Green, so uplifting that he often wondered if the coach had ever had a bad day. So when it came time for his son to choose a hockey program, McPhee knew exactly where he belonged. Graham McPhee 鈥20 played for York at BC. 鈥 He鈥檚 demonstrated for the rest of college sports that there鈥檚 a right way to do it,鈥 McPhee said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 just about hockey for Coach York, it wasn鈥檛 about this cloistered life. It was about family, education, and faith, and then hockey.鈥
York is one of only three coaches to have won NCAA听titles with two different schools鈥擝owling Green in 1984, and BC in 2001, 2008, 2010, and 2012. He also led the Eagles to twelve Frozen Four appearances, nine Hockey East Tournament titles, twelve Hockey East regular season championships, and nine Beanpot titles. His forty-one NCAA Tournament victories are the most ever, and he was named Hockey East Coach of the Year five times, most recently in 2021. York coached four Hobey Baker Award winners in his career. Eighteen of his former players were selected in the first round of the NHL draft, and fifty-eight have appeared in at least fifty games in the NHL. In 2019, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. And in 2020 he was named to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Of course, York was a celebrated player before he became a coach. He scored 134 points for md传媒国产剧 College听during his collegiate career, and still ranks among BC鈥檚 all-time leaders in points, goals, and assists.
And somewhere along the way, he started carrying that notebook. 鈥淔or us, that was the running joke,鈥 Brian Gionta said. 鈥淲e wanted to get ahold of his notebook and see what鈥檚 in there. His game notes, or whatever it might be.鈥 Unfortunately for the many players who have called him coach, Jerry York has closed the book for the final time.听
听1,123 victories, a record
5 NCAA titles: 1984 (with Bowling Green), 2001, 2008, 2010, 2012
18 NCAA tournament appearances
12 Hockey East regular-season titles
9 Hockey East Tournament titles
NCAA Division I Coach of the Year in 1977 (with Clarkson)
5-time Hockey East Coach of the Year: 2004, 2011, 2014, 2018, 2021
9 Beanpot titles
Member of both the Hockey Hall of Fame and U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame
4 players who won the Hobey Baker Award
18 former players selected in the 1st round of the NHL draft
58 former players with at least 50 games in the NHL
Greg Brown 鈥90 has been selected as BC's next Schiller Family Head Hockey Coach. It鈥檚 a homecoming for Brown, an All-American defenseman at BC who served as an assistant on Jerry York鈥檚 staff from 2004 to 2018. 鈥淚 am truly honored to be named coach,鈥 he said, 鈥渁nd to succeed my coaching mentor and friend Jerry York.鈥