For Boston College, a Blueprint That Works TAMPA - As the final horn sounded, sticks, gloves, and helmets flew into the air. Boston College had just won the 2012 national championship, its third in the last five years. The trophy that the Eagles got their hands on after the game was the one they had been working for all year. But more than that, the trophy signified yet another milestone for the program that head coach Jerry York has been building. Back when York was the coach of the 1984 national champions at Bowling Green, he had a mentor in Bob Johnson, a legendary coach in the hockey world. The day after York won the championship, he got a call from Johnson. "He said, "Jerry, I'm going to tell you one thing: that when you win a national championship, now you have a blueprint as to how to win more of them,"" York recounted after winning his fifth national championship as a coach. "He said, "It's incredibly important that once you win one, that you sit down and go back over what type of student-athletes did you have at that particular time, what were your practice plans like, what were your goals like. But look at everything they did during the course of the year and that's your blueprint, and that will enable you to win more national championships."" And at that time, I thought, oh, geez, I won one. But he's absolutely correct because until you win one, you don't really understand how you have to win them - what type of player you have to recruit, the practice schedule, just the whole emphasis on building through the tournament. And he was absolutely correct there. York has instilled these values into his program at BC, and it shows in the character of his players. Each of them buys into the team-first attitude, and the idea that no one player is bigger than the team. There might not be a better example of the type of player York likes to have on his team than senior captain Tommy Cross. After winning his second national title, the focused defenseman was able to reflect on what makes BC a special place to play. "I think it's the kids," Cross said. Not the talent that comes with the kids, it's the quality of kids that we have in our program. There's a huge trickle-down effect and a continuation of the program and of the culture. I think we have quality kids in our locker room that are team-first. And I think there's a lot that you have to sacrifice, I guess you could say, if you want to be part of a winning team, individually. And we've got guys that do that, sacrifice in individual stats and individual awards to be part of something bigger and get a trophy. Cross has remained humble and determined all year, just like the rest of his teammates. Such is the mindset York demands of his team, and those are the players he likes to recruit. It's in his blueprint - he's seen what works and builds his program around those plans. His players have certainly reaped the benefits from York's style, but not in the way that can be gauged by the number of national championships they win. I feel honored and privileged to be able to be a part of the BC program and the university and specifically the hockey program with Coach, the opportunity he gave me to come here, Cross said. I can't say enough about the environment that BC is to develop as a hockey player, but also as a student and as a person. And I keep thinking of my teammates, best teammates I've ever had. The closest team I've ever been on. It's just 25 brothers. And that's just the way York drew it up.