He led the Eagles to their first national championship in 1949, along the way establishing Boston College as a perennial powerhouse in both regular season and post-season play.

From 1933 to 2022, BC hockey only had three other full-time coaches, Len Ceglarski, Steve Cedorchuk, and Jerry York, all Boston College alumni.

Under John "Snooks" Kelley, BC advanced to the NCAA tournament three straight years from 1948 to 1950 (when the field was only four teams), winning the National Championship in 1949 after defeating Dartmouth 4–3 in Colorado Springs, CO. After Jerry York took over as head coach in 1994, the Eagles began to work their way back to the NCAA tournament, having not qualified since 1991, and not having been to a Frozen Four since 1990.

In 1998, four years after York became head coach, the Eagles were back in the national championship game, losing to the Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey in Boston.

They lost the game 4–2, but returned the favor a year later in 2001, beating North Dakota 3–2 in overtime thanks to a sensational Krys Kolanos goal.

The championship was all the more satisfying for BC as the Eagles defeated in the process the three teams that had eliminated them from the previous three tournaments (Michigan, Maine, North Dakota).

The 2001 National Championship team contained current NHL standouts Brian Gionta, Brooks Orpik, and Chuck Kobasew.

The 2008 tournament marked the third year in a row that the Eagles ending Miami's season, beating the top seeded Red Hawks 4–3 in overtime thanks to an acrobatic goal by freshman Joe Whitney.

The defeat of the Irish by BC has added fuel to the growing rivalry between Boston College and Notre Dame, carrying over to the ice what has been being fought on the gridiron for years between the two schools' football teams in the Holy War.

The Eagles defeated Alaska and Yale in the Northeast Regional in Worcester, earning them a berth in the Frozen Four to be played at Ford Field in Detroit.

BC defeated Miami (OH) 7–1 in the national semifinal, the fourth time in five years that the Eagles ended the RedHawks' season in the NCAA tournament.

The Eagles avenged that loss by defeating the Badgers 5–0 behind a two-goal effort from sophomore Cam Atkinson and an MVP performance by senior Ben Smith, who would be named the Frozen Four's Most Outstanding Player.

The continued their now 17-game winning streak, making quick work of Minnesota in a 6–1 rout thanks to the efforts of forward Chris Kreider and a 30-save performance by netminder Parker Milner.

Kreider would go on to join the New York Rangers in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, where he would score 5 goals and 7 points before ever playing a regular NHL season game, a feat unaccomplished by any player before him.

Once again, the Eagles would continue their every-other-year or even-numbered-years trend by missing out on the Frozen Four in the 2013 tournament via a 5–1 first round loss to Union College and returning the following year in 2014.

After defeating Denver 6–2 and UMass Lowell 4–3 in Worcester, the Eagles advanced to their NCAA-leading 24th Frozen Four appearance played at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, having tied the record with Michigan.

Despite a respectable 21–14–3 record and finishing 2nd in the conference, the Eagles were bounced out of their 34th NCAA tournament bid in the first round, a 5–2 loss to Denver, who took revenge for the previous year's defeat.

Again finding success in even-numbered years, the Eagles advanced to an NCAA-record 25th Frozen Four in 2016 after dispatching Harvard 4–1 and Minnesota-Duluth 3–2 in the Northeast regional, held in Worcester.

After heading to Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL for the Frozen Four, however, they would fail to advance to the title game at the hands of the Quinnipiac Bobcats, who defeated the Eagles 3–2 in the programs' first-ever meeting.

Junior goaltender Thatcher Demko was named a Hobey Baker hat trick finalist as well as the winner of the Mike Richter Award after leading the NCAA with a school-record 10 shutouts during the season.

In their most recent meeting, Boston College skated to a memorable 5–0 victory against the top seeded Terriers in the 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey tournament Northeast Regional Final.

Boston College ended North Dakota's season in three straight Frozen Fours, most recently winning 6–1 in 2008 en route to a national championship, while in the 2005 tournament the Sioux beat the Eagles in the East Regional finals, 6–3.

When power was restored, the ice surface began to melt, leading to the game being called after two periods due to the hazardous playing conditions.

[8] The Eagles and Hawks last met in the championship game of the 2011 Ice Breaker Tournament at the Ralph Engelstad Arena, with BC defeating North Dakota 6–2.

The two teams met in the semifinals of the Hockey East tournament, with the top-seeded and favored UNH squad jumping out to a 4-1 midway through the second period.

The two teams also met in the Hockey East tournament during the Irish's first year of league membership, where Notre Dame defeated the Eagles in the best-of-three Quarterfinals at BC's Kelley Rink.

The in-conference rivalry was short-lived however, as the Irish's stay in Hockey East lasted only four season, as they left to join the Big Ten Conference in 2017–18.