April 09, 2009

He was all set to become a banker. It was 1968 and Jack Parker, a freshly minted Boston University grad, was starting down that career path when his former linemate, Billy Riley, asked him for a favor. Riley had accepted an assistant coaching position at Medford High but had just received a better offer elsewhere and didn’t want to leave the school high and dry. Parker, who had never thought about coaching, agreed to fill in.Funny thing, he took to it right away.“The minute I started doing it I loved it, no question about it,” Parker said. “I loved the planning of practices, I loved the relationship with the players.”

He spent a year there, moved back to BU to serve as an assistant under his old coach, Jack Kelley, and then took over the program for the 1973-74 season.Over the years, times have changed around Parker. The kids have changed, too. More “coddled,” he says. More apt to have family advisers whispering in their ear.“In the ’70s, the end-all and be-all was to play college hockey,” Parker said. “You achieved your goal when you made the varsity and won a championship for good old State U. Now these kids think college hockey is a stopover to the pros, and 99 percent of them are wrong.”