Brian Durocher

Brian Durocher is an American retired ice hockey player and coach who is currently working as a special assistant at Boston University. He won a national championship with Boston University as a player before embarking on a long coaching career.

Career

Durocher began his college career with Boston University in 1974. Though initially the primary goaltender, he split the starting duties with Pat Devlin in his first two seasons, helping BU win consecutive ECAC tournament championships. Durocher transitioned into the secondary role beginning in his junior year when Jim Craig joined the program. Though he was played less frequently than before, Durocher still made several appearances in goal, helping BU win another conference title in 1977. In his senior season, Durocher, now co-captain, helped the Terriers produce one of the best seasons in program history, finishing the regular season as a top team in the nation with a 25–1 record. After Craig won the quarterfinal match in the conference tournament, Durocher was in goal for a stunning upset in the semifinal round. Though the Terriers won the consolation game, their season would have typically ended there as the two ECAC semifinalists were given bids into the NCAA tournament. Fortunately, the NCAA had altered the tournament format two years earlier and gave itself the ability to add additional team to the field as they saw fit. BU was given a reprieve and awarded a bid into the quarterfinal round where they were able to exact their revenge over Providence and went on to win the national title.

Immediately after graduating, Durocher turned to coaching as was hired as an assistant at American International. He spent two years with the Yellow Jackets before returning to his alma mater in the same capacity. Unfortunately, the early-80's were a bit of a dead period for the Terriers and the team had less success than when Durocher was wearing the pads. He was, however, able to train up Cleon Daskalakis into becoming a First Team All-American. BU had recovered by the mid 80's and Durocher moved on, joining the staff at Colgate under Terry Slater. He was charged with recruiting players for the team and did such a incredible job that, in 1990, the Red Raiders won their first conference championship. That team made just the second NCAA tournament appearance in program history and marched all the way to the championship game. Though Colgate failed to win the title, the program was still riding high on its new-found success. About a year and a half afterwards, tragedy struck when Slater suffered a massive stroke. The coach died 4 days later and Durocher was forced to take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Durocher was offered the head coaching job after the year but he declined.

Durocher returned to being an assistant coach the following season, joining the staff at Brown. His arrival coincided with the team producing its first winning campaign in 16 years and reaching the conference championship game. Brown made its first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 1976 and remained a top team in ECAC Hockey for the next three years. After that 4-year stint, Durocher joined Boston University for the third time and stuck around for good. He spent eight years as an assistant on the men's team, helping the club to three league titles and five NCAA tournament appearances.

In 2004, Boston University announced that they were promoting their women's ice hockey team to varsity status and Durocher agreed to lead the team. The Terriers hit the ice for their first game in 2005 and posted the program's first winning season just one year later. Durocher swiftly built the team into a title contender, getting the Terriers their first conference title in 2010 and then reaching the national championship game the following year. The team didn't decline after losing to perennial power Wisconsin and reeled off four consecutive Hockey East championships, during that run, BU made its second national championship game appearance but were unable to win once more.

After losing their bid for a 5th straight conference championship in 2016, the Terriers began to decline from their lofty position and the team was unable to get back into the NCAA tournament. BU had a couple of good seasons at the end of the decade but they flamed out in the conference tournament and ended with disappointing finishes. Durocher stayed on through the COVID-19 season and its fallout, steading the team through several rough seasons. Durocher stepped down from his post in 2023, retiring as a coach after 18 seasons with the women's team and more than 330 wins behind the bench. He turned over control of the team to one of his former players, Tara Watchorn, but remained with the college as a special assistant for the athletic department.

Personal life

Brian and his wife Karen have three daughters, Kirsten, Kara and Kelsey.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Head coaching record

† Mid-season replacement

See also

List of college women's ice hockey coaches with 250 wins

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Durocher, Brian
1956 births
Living people
Ice hockey people from Massachusetts
People from Longmeadow, Massachusetts
American men's ice hockey goaltenders
Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey players
NCAA men's ice hockey national champions
Colgate Raiders men's ice hockey coaches
Boston University Terriers women's ice hockey coaches