Boston University Terriers: A Legacy of Excellence in College Hockey

The Boston University (BU) Terriers men's ice hockey team stands as a storied program in the landscape of college hockey, boasting a rich history marked by championships, rivalries, and the development of numerous NHL players. Representing Boston University, the Terriers have consistently been a force to be reckoned with, leaving an indelible mark on the sport.

Early Years and Conference Affiliations

The first-ever Boston University hockey game was played on February 6, 1918, at Boston Arena against Boston College. BC won the contest, 3-1. By 1922, the BU hockey team had an organized schedule, an established home at Boston Arena, and a school mascot. After a two-year pause during World War II, BU hockey resumed in 1945 and has played a competitive season every year since. From 1936 to 1954, BU was a founding member of the New England Intercollegiate Hockey League, winning five regular-season titles and two tournament championships. In 1961, BU was again a founding member of a conference, this time for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). BU played in the ECAC from 1961 to 1984, winning six regular-season titles and five tournament championships. In 1984, the Terriers departed to help form the Hockey East Association, where they have since competed, securing ten tournament titles.

National Championships and the "Triple Crown"

The Terriers have won five national championships, and are the only eastern team to win back-to-back NCAA titles. Under head coach Jack Kelley, they won their first title in 1971 and repeated in 1972. BU won their other three titles under head coach Jack Parker, in 1978, 1995, and 2009. In 1972, 1995, and 2009, BU won the "triple crown," consisting of the Beanpot, conference tournament, and NCAA championships. In 1995 and 2009, the Terriers also won the Hockey East regular season title, giving the team four major trophies in a single season.

The Beanpot Tournament

Boston University is sometimes jokingly referred to as “Beanpot University” because of its success in the annual mid-season hockey tournament called the Beanpot. This highly anticipated single-elimination tournament is contested by Boston University, Northeastern University, Harvard University, and Boston College, with the winner receiving the coveted Beanpot trophy and bragging rights over its Boston rivals. The four-team tournament is played on the first two Mondays of February at the TD Garden. Of the 63 Beanpots played since the 1952-1953 season, Boston University has been victorious on 32 occasions. The Terriers have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in six of the past nine seasons and continue to build on their storied history, which has also produced 32 Beanpot titles, 89 All-Americans, 96 NHL players and 4 Hobey Baker Award winners. Captains Brian Durocher (Wheelock’78) and Jack O’Callahan (CAS’79) hoisting the 1978 Beanpot trophy. The tournament was delayed that year by the historic Blizzard of ‘78.

Olympic Glory

The "Miracle on Ice" team that defeated the Soviet Union and won the gold medal during the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, featured four Boston University players including Olympic team captain Mike Eruzione. Eruzione scored the famous winning goal against the Soviets with 10 minutes remaining, and Craig made 36 saves to preserve the 4-3 victory. Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? O'Callahan, who had injured his left knee in an exhibition match, returned for the famous "Miracle on Ice" game and in his first seconds on the ice, delivered a massive hit on a Soviet player that turned the puck over to the Americans near the Soviet defensive zone. Seeing “the BU Four” win with Team USA was a highlight of the 1980s for the program, which reached the national tournament twice that decade, in 1984 and 1986.

Rivalries

Boston University's biggest rival is Boston College. Referred to as the Green Line Rivalry or The Battle of Commonwealth Avenue because of the proximity of the schools and the means of transportation to get from one campus to another, the Terriers and Eagles have played each other well over 200 times since their first meeting in 1918. After the 1978 national championship victory over Boston College, BU co-captain Jack O'Callahan was quoted as saying "We shouldn't have to beat BC for the nationals. Hell, we can do that anytime." But every game between the teams is highly anticipated. BU and BC have played at least once a year since 1946, and at least twice a year since 1949. They usually play two Hockey East regular season games each year, and typically face each other once more in February during the Beanpot, with BU holding a substantial edge in tournament and head-to-head victories. The teams have twice played each other for the Hockey East Championship, in 1986 and 2006, with BU winning both titles. In 2005-06, BU and BC played six games-three in the Hockey East regular season, and once each in the Beanpot, Hockey East tournament, and NCAA tournament. At every game, regular season and playoffs, the spirited student sections - BU's nicknamed the Dog Pound and BC's the Superfans - are seated in proximity to each other and hurl insults and chants back and forth. BU and BC ratcheted up their rivalry on Jan. 8, 2010, when they played each other at Fenway Park in front of 38,000 fans, the biggest crowd to ever watch the teams play. Sports Illustrated columnist Steve Rushin went so far as to call BU-BC the biggest rivalry in all of sports. Despite substantial bitterness between the fan bases of the two schools, the hockey teams and coaches generally agree that the magnitude of the rivalry has benefited both hockey programs.

The rivalry between Boston University and Cornell dates to 1925 when Boston University beat Cornell 7-2. The teams played each other in the NCAA championship game in both 1967 and 1972, with Cornell defeating BU 4-1 in '67 and the Terriers taking the '72 title with a 4-0 win. The schools renewed the rivalry over Thanksgiving weekend of 2007, with a sold out game dubbed "Red Hot Hockey" at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. After scoring three goals in the first several minutes of play, BU went on to win 6-3. Red Hot Hockey returned to Madison Square Garden on November 28, 2009, with the two teams skating to a 3-3 tie after one overtime period. The event again sold out the arena.

In the first half of the 1990s, the BU-Maine rivalry was one of the most talked about in college hockey, with the teams battling each other both for eastern and national college hockey supremacy. Boston University defeated Maine in the 1991 Hockey East championship game, in overtime, and Maine returned the favor by soundly beating BU in the HE title game in 1993. In the '93 season, Maine won the national title and lost only one game all year, and it came at the hands of their rivals at BU. Maine had to forfeit most of its wins in the 1994 season because of recruiting violations.

BU's rivalries with Harvard and Northeastern stem mainly from regular meetings in the Beanpot, the tournament in which Boston bragging rights are on the line. BU also plays Northeastern three times each year in conference regular season play, and sometimes plays the ECAC-based Harvard in a nonconference game early in the season. BU, BC, Northeastern and Harvard formerly played their home games in the Boston Arena, the site of the first Beanpot in 1952 and the current home of Northeastern.

Hobey Baker Award Winners

The Hobey Baker Award is an annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player. Forward Chris Drury became BU's first Hobey Baker award winner after a senior campaign in which he scored 28 goals and assisted on 29 more. Drury's 113 career goals are the most in BU history. Drury has gone on to a successful NHL career, which included the 1999 rookie of the year award and a 2001 Stanley Cup championship with Colorado. Defenseman Matt Gilroy won BU's second Hobey Baker award after a senior season in which he scored eight goals and posted 29 assists. Gilroy came to BU as a walk-on and became a three-time All-American. Forward Jack Eichel won the Hobey Baker in 2015, after putting a 71-point year in only 40 games, becoming the third BU player to win the award. He edged the two others nominees that year, Zane McIntyre from North Dakota, and Jimmy Vesey from Harvard University. Vesey went on and won it the year after. Forward Macklin Celebrini won the Hobey Baker award in 2024, after recording 38 goals and 32 assists in 38 games, becoming the fourth BU player to win the award.

The Travis Roy Story

On Oct. 20, 1995, BU raised its fourth national championship banner as it opened a new season, yet just moments later the program suffered its greatest on-ice tragedy. On that night Travis Roy, a freshman recruit who grew up in Maine, was paralyzed from the neck down just eleven seconds into his first college shift. The 20-year-old Roy crashed head-first into the boards after a University of North Dakota player, Mitch Vig, avoided his check. Roy missed a year of college, but ultimately returned to BU, earning a degree in communications in 2000. Roy has remained a presence with the BU hockey program, attending games and on several occasions joining his teammates on the ice to celebrate Beanpot championships. Roy, (now deceased), has become an inspirational figure for sufferers of spinal cord injuries. In 1997 he founded the Travis Roy Foundation to raise money for research and individual grants, and in 1998 he published an autobiography titled Eleven Seconds. "It's very special to be a part of the BU hockey family," Roy wrote in a new afterword in the 2005 edition of his autobiography. In October 1999, Roy's #24 was retired, and raised to the rafters of Walter Brown Arena. Only months after winning a national championship, an unthinkable tragedy struck the Terriers and the BU program in the opening moments of the 1995-96 campaign. Travis Roy (COM’00, Hon.’16)) (center) remained closely tied to the team following a devastating injury in 1995 during his first game as a Terrier that left him paralyzed. In the 25 years he lived after his accident, Roy (COM’00, Hon.’16) and those around him turned his condition into a source of positive change. “Right from that moment, I remember everybody rallying and everybody becoming active. It was just that mentality of ‘what can we do,’” Corbett says. “With what he became, what he meant to people, and how he positively impacted people-what a legacy.

Coaching Legends

Wayland Vaughan coached Boston University from 1928 until 1943, compiling an 87-82-8 record. Vaughan was far from the most successful coach in terms of winning percentage, but maintained the Terriers program in the face of both the Great Depression and World War II. Harry Cleverly, the BU coach from 1945 until 1962, guided the Terriers into the era of the NCAA tournament, which began in 1948, and brought BU to its first national championship game in 1950 and an additional three appearances in the tournament, which consisted of just four teams in those years. With the help of Jack Garrity (Wheelock’51,’59), the program’s all-time single-season leader in goals (51) and points (84), Cleverly helped BU to its first national tournament appearance, a 4-3 victory over Michigan on March 17, 1950.

Jack Kelley was the first coach to bring BU to the summit of college hockey. Kelley coached just ten seasons but appeared in four NCAA tournaments and won back-to-back titles in 1971 and 1972, his final years behind the bench. Kelley also won three ECAC regular season titles, one ECAC tournament title, and six Beanpots. After Cleverly brought the Terriers to the national stage, Jack Kelley only further fixed the spotlight on BU hockey in his decade behind the bench. Kelley directed the program from 1962 to 1972, posting 206 wins, 80 losses, and 7 ties. After reaching the national tournament in 1966 and 1967, Kelley and the Terriers broke through in 1971 for the program’s first national championship, a 4-2 win over Minnesota. BU lost just twice in that 1970-71 campaign, and after a 4-2 defeat to Harvard in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) semifinals, the national tournament selection committee made the unprecedented decision to invite the Terriers to the four-team tournament despite the team not reaching the ECAC final. Goaltender Tim Regan (Wheelock’72) set program single-season records for save percentage (.929) and goals-against average (1.77) in the 1970-71 season, and was one of many Terriers to return for the 1971-72 campaign. Walter Brown Arena was Jack Kelley’s vision, but he spent only one season at the new venue.

Leon Abbott succeeded Kelley, and picked up where Kelley left off with a sterling 22-win season in 1972-73. However, eleven of his wins were forfeited due to an ineligible player. Six games into his second season, Abbott was abruptly fired for withholding information about two Canadian players who had played junior hockey in their home country. The ECAC had ruled them ineligible, only to be cleared to play by a judge. At a conference meeting, Abbott admitted not pressing the players to disclose the compensation they received as juniors.

Jack Parker is the longest-tenured and winningest coach in Boston University history. During his 40-year BU coaching career (1973-2013), Jack Parker (Questrom’68, Hon.’97) had the most wins by any coach at one school-897, more than half of the program’s all-time victories. He began coaching the team at just 28 years old. Parker's accomplishments are almost unparalleled in college sports. In 40 years, he won 876 games, the highest tally for a hockey coach who has spent his whole career at just one school, while winning 21 Beanpot titles, 11 conference tournament titles and three national championships in 1978, 1995, and 2009. Parker helped found Hockey East in 1984, when several teams broke away from the ECAC to form their own conference, and played a crucial role in building Boston University's state-of-the-art arena. The ice sheet at Agganis Arena bears his name - Jack Parker Rink. Parker was voted NCAA hockey coach of the year in 1975, 1978, and 2009, and his 30 NCAA tournament wins are among the most of all time. Kelley’s success “was a blueprint for me, and it was a benchmark for our teams,” Parker says. “He pushed everybody to give their best effort all the time. By demanding that day in and day out, I think the team got the feeling that: we deserve this. It didn’t take long for Parker to match the success of his former coach. Parker says he enjoyed the relationships the most. “The best part of my job was my relationships with my players when I was coaching them, and the relationship I’ve had with my players since I graduated,” he says.

Read also: History of the BU Bridge

Quinn totaled 105 wins, 68 losses, and 21 ties in five years at BU, and when he moved on to lead the NHL’s New York Rangers in 2018, O’Connell became head coach. His most successful season so far came a year ago when the Terriers reached the 2021 NCAA tournament despite playing only 16 games in a campaign that was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Home Arena

BU plays its home games at Agganis Arena (capacity 6,150) in Boston, Massachusetts. The hockey rink at the arena is named Jack Parker Rink after the team's longtime coach. Agganis Arena first opened its doors on January 3, 2005, for a hockey game versus the University of Minnesota. Agganis Arena opened on January 3, 2005, with a 2-1 BU win over Minnesota, which had beaten the Terriers 2-1 in their final game at Walter Brown Arena the night before. “Our facilities are great,” O’Connell says.

Notable Alumni and Integration

If you’ve watched any game in the National Hockey League over the last several decades, chances are good there’s been a Terrier on the ice. Maybe it was the proximity of the Boston Bruins, one of the Original Six teams from the early days of the NHL (1942 to 1967), or maybe it was the growing presence of other college teams around the city. For whatever reason, hockey seemed destined to soar on Comm Ave. “The University has always wanted a successful college hockey program,” says legendary BU captain and coach Jack Parker (Questrom’68, Hon.’97). The BU men’s hockey program has also played an important role in the integration of Black players into the sport. Mike Grier starred for BU in the mid-1990s, and enjoyed a stellar, 14-year career in the National Hockey League, where he became the first American-born Black player to score 20 goals in a season. Jordan Greenway (CGS’17, CAS’19) in 2018 was the first Black hockey player to play for Team USA in the Winter Olympics. Eddie Wright (’69) played for Jack Kelley in the late 1960s, and went on to be the first Black NCAA hockey coach, helming University of Buffalo.

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