Jack Parker's Wiseguys: The National Champion Bu Terriers, the Blizzard of '78, and the Road to the Miracle on Ice Hardcover - 2018
by Tim Rappleye
From the publisher
Over the winter of 1977-78, anyone within shouting distance of a two-mile stretch of Boston's Commonwealth Avenue--from Fenway Park to the trolley curve at Packard's Corner--found themselves pulled into the orbit of college hockey. The hottest ticket in a sports-mad city was Boston University's Terriers, a team so tough it was said they didn't have fans--they took hostages. Eschewing the usual recruiting pools in Canada, Jack Parker and his coaching staff assembled a squad that included three stars from nearby Charlestown, then known as the "armed robbery capital of America." Jack Parker's Wiseguys is the story of a high-flying, headline-dominating, national championship squad led by three future stars of the Miracle on Ice, the medal-round game the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team won against the heavily favored Soviet Union. Now retired, Parker is a thoughtful statesman for the sport, a revered figure who held the longest tenure of any coach in Boston sports history. But during the 1977-78 season, he was just five years into his reign--and only a decade or so older than his players. Fiery, mercurial, as tough as any of his tough guys, Parker and his team were to face the pressure-cooker expectations of four previous also-ran seasons, further heightened by barroom brawls, off-the-ice shenanigans, and the citywide shutdown caused by one of the biggest blizzards to ever hit the Northeast. This season was to be Parker's watershed, a roller-coaster ride of nail-biting victories and unimaginable tragedy, played out in increasingly strident headlines as his team opened the season with an unprecedented twenty-one straight wins. Only the second loss of the year eliminated the Terriers from their league playoffs and possibly from national contention; hours after the game Parker's wife died from cancer. The story of how the team responded--coming back to win the national championship a week after Parker buried his wife--makes a compelling tale for Boston sports fans and everyone else who feels a thrill of pride at America's unlikely win over the Soviet national team--a victory forged on Commonwealth Avenue in that bitter, beautiful winter of '78.
Details
- Title Jack Parker's Wiseguys: The National Champion Bu Terriers, the Blizzard of '78, and the Road to the Miracle on Ice
- Author Tim Rappleye
- Binding Hardcover
- Pages 248
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher University Press of New England
- Date 2018-01
- ISBN 9781512601558 / 1512601551
- Weight 1 lbs (0.45 kg)
- Dimensions 9 x 6 x 1 in (22.86 x 15.24 x 2.54 cm)
About the author
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