Sports Final: 1-on-1 With Retired BU Coach Jack Parker

BOSTON (CBS) - Saturday night saw the end of an era in Boston sports, as UMass-Lowell defeated Boston University 1-0 to capture their first Hockey East Championship in school history.

As UMass-Lowell writes a new chapter in their history books, BU ends one of theirs. Saturday night was the final game for Hall of Fame head coach Jack Parker, who heads off into retirement after 40 years on the Terriers bench.

Parker finished his illustrious career with 897 career wins, six Hockey East championships and a trio of NCAA Titles.

"I always tell people that I was very fortunate to be a coach," Parker told WBZ-TV's Steve Burton shortly after his final game as a head coach. "You don't stick around for 40 years unless you're at a school that wants to win and they give you everything you need to win. You don't stick around 40 years if you don't have a winning record, and the reason I had a winning record was because I was at BU…. There are a lot better coaches than I am, but they never got a chance to coach (at a school like BU)."

Throughout his 40 seasons on the BU bench one thing remained constant for Parker: his love for his players.

"All the lives that I have touched, they have touched me more than I've touched them. I feel that way about all my players," he said. "To this day, my closest friends are my former players and that will remain – that's for sure."

Read: UMass-Lowell, BC Off To NCAA Tournament

"I was proud of the way we conducted ourselves, proud of all the championships we won and great players we had," he said. "I'm most proud of my players and most proud of my association with them."

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