Induction Speeches: Parker | Smith | Young

BOSTON - Boston University was well-represented when the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inducted its Class of 2017 on Dec. 13 at The Westin Boston Waterfront as legendary head coach Jack Parker was joined by one of his players (Scott Young) and one of his assistant coaches (Ben Smith). 

Parker, who served as head coach of the Terriers for 40 seasons and won three national titles and 897 games, had Smith on his staff for nine years, including both seasons Young played at BU (1985-87) before embarking on a 17-year NHL career. This year's stellar induction class also included Kevin Collins and Ron Wilson. 

A three-time Olympian and two-time Stanley Cup champion, Young is one of 74 NHLers to have played for Parker at BU and returned to Commonwealth Ave. in 2014 to join former teammate David Quinn's staff. Young left BU to play for Team USA in the 1988 Olympics in Calgary along with Smith, who took a year off from the Terriers to serve as an assistant coach for the national team. 

Smith, who both Parker and Quinn consider a mentor, played at Harvard and went on to serve as head coach at Dartmouth and Northeastern before becoming the head coach of the U.S. Olympic Women's Team for three Olympiads, leading the squad to the event's first-ever gold medal in 1998. 

This group joined 10 other Terriers in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Tony Amonte, Chris Drury, Jack Garrity, Jack Kelley and Keith Tkachuk are in the Hall along with five other BU standouts (Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione, Jack O'Callahan, Dick Rodenhiser, Dave Silk) who were inducted as part of gold-medal winning Olympic teams from 1960 and 1980.