In addition to losing eight starters from last season’s national championship squad, the Boston University men’s hockey team now has a void to fill on its coaching staff.
David Quinn, the Terriers’ associate head coach of the past five seasons, was named head coach of the American Hockey League’s Lake Erie Monsters on Monday, according to the Monsters’ official website.
Lake Erie, the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, represents Quinn’s second head-coaching job, following a stint with the U.S. National Under-17 Team from 2002-04.
‘Certainly, it will be a big loss to our staff,’ BU head coach Jack Parker said. ‘He did a
terrific job recruiting, and he did a terrific job coaching our team. It will be a
big hole for us to plug. We’re starting to think about the candidates, and we’re going to
have a lot of candidates, obviously. We’ll have to sift through it and make some
decisions in the next couple of weeks.
‘But as of right now, we’re just happy for David more than anything else. I think it’s a
great opportunity for him. He’s always wanted to be a head coach again. He’s in
a situation now where he’s probably in better shape to go two different tracks. He can
maybe have the opportunity to become an NHL head coach or an NHL assistant coach. Or, he can be in better position after this experience in Cleveland to go look at some premier hockey jobs as a Division I head coach himself.’
Quinn was a top assistant at Northeastern University (1993-96) and the University of Nebraska-Omaha (1996-2002) before coming to BU in 2004. He has been involved with USA Hockey since 1995, most recently serving as an assistant for the U.S. Men’s National Team at the 2007 IIHF World Championship.
The appointment comes nearly three weeks after Joe Sacco, a BU alumnus who coached the Monsters for the past two seasons, was named head coach of the Avalanche.
Earlier this spring, Quinn was rumored to be a top candidate for the Nebraska-Omaha job, but the Mavericks ultimately decided on Dean Blais, who won a pair of national championships with the University of North Dakota in 1997 and 2000.
Quinn was a standout defenseman for the Terriers from 1984-87. Prior to arriving at BU, he was drafted with the 13th overall pick of the 1984 NHL Draft by the Minnesota North Stars. He was named to the All-Hockey East First Team as a sophomore, but before his senior year Quinn was diagnosed with Christmas Disease, a blood clotting disorder that ended his promising career.
Current BU assistant coach Mike Bavis is expected to be promoted to associate head coach, and a new assistant is likely to be hired in the next week or two.
Parker to be honored Wednesday
Parker and Boston College head coach Jerry York will be inducted into The Sports Museum Hall of Fame on Wednesday night, along with five other New England sports legends. Rivals on the ice and friends off it, York and Parker rank first and second among active college hockey coaches in wins with 821 and 816, respectively.
‘It’s nice, personally,’ Parker said of the honor. ‘I think it’s great for college hockey
to have coaches honored in that way, to show it’s not just a pro town. We think
college hockey is a huge fabric in the tapestry of the city of Boston. It’s a big part of
the social and sporting events here.
‘We’re very, very fortunate to have the two of us recognized this way to really promote our sport even more.’
Parker is entering his 37th season at BU, while York is set to begin his 16th with the Eagles. York previously spent seven seasons as the head coach at Clarkson University (1972-79) and 15 years at Bowling Green State University (1979-1994).
Each coach has won three national championships, with BC and BU splitting the last two titles. In addition, Parker has 21 Beanpot crowns to York’s three.
Their rivalry began long before York arrived at BC. Parker and York coached against each other in the 1970s, when BU and Clarkson were both members of the ECAC. They also played against each other in both high school and college.
Parker, a native of Somerville, played at Catholic Memorial High School and BU, while York, a Watertown native, played at Boston College High School and BC.
Other inductees Wednesday night include Troy Brown, Ken Hodge, Sam Jones, Nancy Kerrigan and Curt Schilling.
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