2012-13 Boston College Hockey Season Preview: Jerry York's Win Record

There are plenty of question marks on the Heights as this year's men's hockey season gets underway. Gone are blue line stalwarts Tommy Cross and Brian Dumoulin. Chris Kreider is off to greener pastures in the NHL (eventually, maybe, once they get their act together). Barry Almeida has graduated. In place of these and others, the Eagles will need returning players to increase their production and freshmen to contribute immediately.

If it all clicks, BC could be on the verge of a truly history-making season - a season of milestones.

Jerry York's Win Record

Barring a complete catastrophe, one piece of history is sure to be accomplished this year - Jerry York surpassing Ron Mason's total of 924 wins to become the all-time winningest coach in college hockey history. York sits at 913 now, meaning 12 wins would set the record. As Grant and I will discuss in next week's Banter, we kind of think (unfortunately) that projecting out the schedule means there's a good chance the record is surpassed while BC is in Minnesota for the holiday tournament.

Here is how the early-season schedule lines up:

@ Northeastern
@ UMass
Northeastern
@ UMass-Lowell
UMass-Lowell
@ Maine
UMass
Notre Dame
@ Boston University
Merrimack
Dartmouth
@ Boston University
Boston University
@ Providence
vs. Alabama-Huntsville (@ Minnesota)
@ Minnesota
Yale
New Hampshire
@ New Hampshire
UMass
@ Northeastern
Maine
Maine

Let's take a look at the last six seasons and when BC notched win #12.

-- 2011-2012: BC notched win #12 on game 17. This year, Game #17 will be a home game against Yale in January.
-- 2010-2011: BC also got their 12th win in game 17 that season as well.
-- 2009-2010: Win #12 came in game #16. This year, that would be @Minnesota over the holidays. (Boooo!)
-- 2008-2009: In the worst season in a decade for BC, win #12 came in game 23. Let's hope nothing like that happens this year, but if so game 23 is a home game against Maine in late January.
-- 2007-2008: Interestingly, in the 2008 national championship year, it took even longer for win #12 to come (game 24). Then we're looking at the record being set during the Beanpot.
-- 2006-2007: Win 12= Game 19. Game 19 is at UNH in January.

Whenever it happens, it will be an incredible accomplishment for Jerry York. Just five or six years ago, conventional wisdom would have expected Jack Parker to close in on this record before Jerry York. While Parker still might, York may well be speeding toward win #1000 by the time he does.