Brian Durocher Named One Of Nation's Top Assistant Coaches
August 20, 2003 | Men's Ice Hockey
Brian Durocher, Boston University's associate head hockey coach, has been selected as one of the nation's top 500 scholastic and collegiate assistant coaches and has been awarded the second annual AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award. A panel of judges from Scholastic Coach and Athletic Director magazine, the nation's leading publication for the team athletic marketplace, made the selections.
The criteria for selection was based on longevity, expertise, contributions to the school and community, and special achievements throughout their careers. The selections were based on nominations made by head coaches, athletic administrators, past and current student-athletes, fans and the Board members themselves. The winners were selected from a field of more than 350,000 coaches across the nation.
Durocher's involvement with Terrier hockey has stretched almost 30 years, as he was co-captain of the Terriers' 1977-78 national championship hockey team. A four-year letterman as a goalie, he compiled a 14-2-0 mark along with a 3.99 GAA and an .871 save percentage as the Terriers rolled to a 30-2 overall record and the NCAA Division 1 title. His overall collegiate record was 47-13-1.
Following graduation, Durocher began his coaching career at American International. He remained there until 1980 when he returned to his alma mater to serve on head coach Jack Parker's staff.
Five years later, in 1985, he left B.U. to join the staff of the late Terry Slater at Colgate University. In December 1991, after Slater's untimely death, Durocher was named Colgate's interim head coach. He retained that position through the conclusion of the 1992 season. Later, that fall, he was named an assistant coach at Brown University, a position he held until he returned to B.U. for the 1996-97 season.
"I am honored to receive the AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award," Durocher said. "This Award recognizes all of the efforts, achievements and long hours that assistant coaches put in to make them and their programs better. On behalf of all assistant coaches, I would like to thank AFLAC for their sponsorship, and Scholastic Coach and Athletic Director magazine for the establishment and promotion of this fine Award.
"I have been very fortunate over the years to have worked for some outstanding head coaches who have allowed me to grow in this profession," continued Durocher. "I have to especially thank Jack Parker, who I was lucky enough to play for and now work with. I also want to thank Terry Slater, Bob Gaudette (Brown), and Wayne Lachance (American International). I also learned a lot from Gary Dineen, who I played for (the Coyotes and Springfield Olympics) and then coached with for many years at his camp.
"Finally, I have worked with some outstanding assistant coaches over the years," concluded Durocher. "And, most importantly, I have coached excellent student-athletes. Without them, none of this would have been possible."
"AFLAC is pleased to sponsor the AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Program," Joe Kuechenmeister, AFLAC Senior Vice President stated. "Assistant Coaches are the unsung heroes of American sport. So many of us were positively affected by our participation in sports that we wanted to pay tribute to these hard-working, under-recognized coaches who do so much to improve the young people that they work with."
"We were extremely impressed with the quality of the nominees," Bruce Weber, Publisher of Scholastic Coach and Athletic Director commented. "The majority of the nominations were prepared in great detail. The nominators obviously felt very deeply about the assistant coaches they were recommending."
