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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."
York is very influential not only as a coach to his players but also as a mentor, helping his players grow as people and as young men. He makes sure they take pride in their academics and represent the University with the utmost class.
"He loves the game, he loves being around us, loves trying to make guys better players as well as better people," Bradford says. "He pushes us to the limit academically and to be better people in the community, he teaches us to give back to others."
Under York's leadership, BC has become the premier hockey program in the East with two national titles since 2001. He has built a program that has thrived with small, fast, and skilled players who are able to elude the hulking defensemen of the Midwest teams.
"That's our goal," York says of developing a strong program. "We don't want to just win one year and then go on vacation for the next three years. We want to be consistently in the top half-dozen schools in the country. You have to establish how you want to operate as a program, from recruiting, to discipline, coaching, it all has to be your 'A' game all the time."
"One of the biggest things that stuck out in my head is that with Coach York it's not all about hockey," Brennan says. "He builds not just better hockey players, but better people, and that's why he's the best coach in college hockey."
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