Ceglarski had hired York in 1970 as his first assistant coach at Clarkson, but York was mostly relegated to the freshman team.

“I didn’t know back then how much he knew about hockey,” said Ceglarski, 90, still an avid follower of the program. “I had old-fashioned ideas. I regret I didn’t give Jerry more things to do. He had the brains for it.”

York, at 26, became the youngest coach in college hockey when he succeeded Ceglarski in 1972 after Ceglarski left for Boston College. After seven years in Potsdam, N.Y., he won 342 games in 15 years at Bowling Green, including the program’s only national championship, in 1984.

Once back home at Boston College, York endured losing seasons his first three years. Since then, he has won four national championships — the first in 2001 — and been to 12 Frozen Fours in the last 19 years. The keystones of his success are a relentlessly positive attitude and his faith in his players, said Wayne Wilson, who was part of York’s second recruiting class at Bowling Green and played on the 1984 title team.

“He had a structure, but he let us to play the game,” said Wilson, the coach at Rochester Institute of Technology the last 17 years. “Some players get paralyzed by a coach’s system, but he allowed us to be creative within the concept of the team.”

The former Eagle Greg Brown joined York’s staff in 2004, after a 12-year professional career.

“He accepts you immediately,” Brown said. “At my first practice, he said to me, ‘You take the power play.’ He gave me responsibility right away. He’s like that with everyone.”

As coach of an elite program, York attracts top recruits. There are 20 Eagles in the N.H.L., including the Flames’ Johnny Gaudreau and the Rangers’ Chris Kreider. York’s current roster has 12 N.H.L. draft picks, two of them first-rounders.