Jerry York: A Man and His Record?

Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE

Boston College hockey has had many things to celebrate over the years, particularly the last five. The Eagles don’t have “golden” in their names (for those national beat writers who don’t already know that, and there are many), but this age has been for hockey on the Heights, winning three national championships since 2008. The next major achievement to be reached in this program will be garnered through team effort, but the glory will be for one person. He could not be a more deserving one.

Jerry York sits at 923 wins all-time, just one short of tying former Michigan State coach Ron Mason’s record of 924 Division I hockey wins. Helped by his team getting off to a fast 10-1 start this season, the Boston College head coach has finally reached the weekend where he can both tie and take the record. Fans of the team have patiently waited for this moment to come, ready to fire up their #York925 hashtags and celebrate a man who is not only the greatest college hockey coach of all-time, but a tremendous ambassador of his university.

York is both a Bostonian and a Boston College man through and through. A former Eagle hockey player himself, York bleeds maroon and gold, and when one hears him speak, they won’t mistake him for being from anywhere but around here. It is perhaps only fitting, then, that Jerry York may break the all-time record at home, hopefully at Conte Forum with about nine thousand close friends there to celebrate with him. Boston is his home, and more importantly, so is Boston College. He is where he belongs.

Jerry York’s positive vision for a BC hockey program that gets better and better all the time permeates everything he says and does. Nobody, not a player, coach, fan, reporter, or adversary on the ice, has ever had a bad thing to say about the man. All indications are that Jerry York is a genuinely considerate and upbeat person, and he carries this life philosophy into his coaching — which might partially explain why he has been so successful. He is a gift to this athletics department.

This weekend, York’s Eagles play a home-and-home against Boston University. Knowing the humble York, he is probably more concerned with his team getting four points and advancing towards their primary goal than padding his own personal statistics. That’s perfectly fine, because we the fans will remind him of his enormous achievement when he grabs his 925th win, anyway. No doubt the Terriers would like to be the ones to prevent York from reaching his milestone this weekend, but whether it’s in Chestnut Hill, at a mid-season tournament, or at some other venue, he will eventually get there.

Boston College-Boston University home-and-homes carry a great deal of importance on a normal weekend, but this is not a normal weekend. The Eagles players will fight as hard as they can for their coach, knowing that they can be the ones to put him over the top at home on Saturday night. Few men are as deserving of their accolades as Jerry York, who will soon enough add one more line to his impressive coaching resume.