College Hockey:
Boston University banishes Privitera for rest of the season, cites discipline issues

USCHO Staff Report • Feb. 14, 2013

In a brief press release sent out Thursday, Boston University announced that sophomore defenseman Alexx Privitera has been suspended by head coach Jack Parker for the remainder of the season due to “on-ice discipline problems.”

Privitera has played in 48 career games for the Terriers, totaling 26 points on six goals and 20 assists.

His status for the 2013-14 season is unknown.

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BU2012
How many of these issues have to occur before BU has to take a hard look at Parker and see if he has lost control of the program
- ChuckGandCrew
  It’s very hard to recruit at such a high level and find not only athletes but quality students who are somewhat serious about anything besides girls and hockey. Parker is a great coach, his recruits need to be vetted more seriously before being allowed to wear the words Boston across their chest.
BUFAN
“on-ice discipline problems” led to dismissal — wow….that’s a first. Well, better than a sexual harassment/entitlement accusation for a Terrier. Time to retire Jackie (the 1990s were good…..but….the 2000′s = not so much)….
- bronxbomberz41
  well he did get a title. Not quite a BC level…but its still been pretty good.
  - Joseph Crowley
    Exactly Bronx. The Frozen Four I attended at the Verizon Center was pretty good. There have been more good or great seasons than bad seasons. Last years team, with all the off ice issues still made the NCAA. This years team has struggled on the ice, but, to date seems to be taking care of improving off ice behavior.
    Hopefully Alexx will gain something from his time away from the team. Hopefully, the rest of the locker room will play as a team.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=702513657 Matthew James Smith
At this point, chances are pointing to Parker resigning or retiring after this season. He gave a good 40 years to a great program, but now it’s time for some fresh blood to take over and rejuvenate it.
http://www.facebook.com/steve.l.philbrick Steve Lawrence Philbrick
Hmm, so you guys are calling for Parker to step down because HE DID THE RIGHT THING here? I’m not Parker’s biggest fan, nor am I a foe, but why blame his player’s bad behavior on him?
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=702513657 Matthew James Smith
  The issue wasn’t so much about doing the right thing as much as it is with the culture of the players on the program resulting from the scandal last year that Parker and the admins have lagged action upon that is killing the team.
- bronxbomberz41
  Why is Parker recruiting these kinds of kids in the first place? Nobody is perfect, especially the very privileged high-end, talented hockey players (most grow up very well off already, if not rich…hockey is not a poor kids sport, on top of the attention that gets showered on them as top athletes). Yet BU seems to continually get kids with character flaws severe enough that they require off-ice discipline or dismissal. Either Jack is blind to the fact that these players have these flaws OR he’s overlooking them intentionally and hoping for the best because of the potential talent level, and being forced to act when things get out of control. Either way, this is a Jack Parker problem, and it reflects poorly on him and on BU as a whole. I’m not saying character has to be the only consideration here, but if Parker doesn’t change the kind of kids he’s bringing in, he could have the Miami (FL) of college hockey on his hands.
  - BU2012
    Say what you will about the man, but no way would this have been tolerated for so long under John Silber. The program is dangerously close to the phrase lack of institutional control.
  - hockeyman41
    You make several good points. I am not sure Parker actually knows what he is getting in terms of character when he recruits a kid. Maybe he will contact the kid’s current coach (i.e. midget major or NAHL or USHL) and ask a few questions. These coaches are anxious to put a kid into a D-1 program, especially a good one. I think many of these kids have no idea how lucky they are to get an education and play hockey at the D-1 level.
    Then consider how many distractions there are at BU (or any Boston school). Boston is a great place to live and attend school. I think Parker does look at the whole kid but he cannot and should not need to babysit his players. Especially since some of his incoming freshman are older than most typical incoming freshman.
BU2012
If it were an isolated event I would not have commented, but quite frankly I am sick of logging into USCHO and finding out another player has left BU for whatever reason. It is an epidemic. The team has a real issue in that it is disconnected from the alumni and students , in so much that I don’t think many people have pride in the program right now. I don’t want to be “The U” of hockey
- Joseph Crowley
  Maybe Jack Parker should ask his best friend Jerry York about how to run a successful program without ANY incidents… Oh wait.
  The reality is that problems like this exist to varying levels in lots of athletic programs. We can pretend that there are no issues at some large programs while only focusing on the most recent news.
  Instead, last year was a wake up call for BU, especially in light of the decades of problems with Penn State football. A lackluster second half of a BU season? A team leader given the boot for a season because he is out of control on the ice? These are regular hockey problems. I prefer fourth place in a Beanpot to the police parade last year.

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