The Wolverine

May 2017 Issue

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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MAY 2017 THE WOLVERINE 9 BY JOHN BORTON T he giants at Michigan made their programs dominant, not just regionally but nationally. Fielding H. Yost, Fritz Crisler, Bo Schembechler, Carol Hutchins and more stand tall among the greats. Red Berenson isn't out of place one bit among such an elite cast of coaches. When he announced April 10 the conclusion of his 33-year career as Michigan's ice hockey head coach, many reflected on the end of an era. U-M director of athletics Warde Manuel noted: "Here was the quote from when [former AD] Don Canham in- troduced Red as the coach. 'I'd like to improve the image of the Michigan hockey team, on campus and with the alumni. I think that now people will be thinking more highly about the program.' "Red, I think you've accomplished that and so much more." There wasn't much reason to be excited about Michi- gan hockey before the school brought back its former All-American and MVP to coach the team in 1984. After a highly successful NHL playing career with the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues — and NHL coaching experience beyond — Berenson inherited a mess in Ann Arbor. He took over a program that finished below .500 in four of seven seasons, and hadn't touched a league champion- ship since 1969. For a program with seven NCAA cham- pionships under its belt at the time, the situation became unacceptable. Berenson didn't snap his fingers and make the slide dis- appear instantly. The Wolverines suffered through three more sub-.500 campaigns while he built his program. Then they took off. For the next quarter century, they produced winning seasons every single year. They surged to national titles in 1996 and 1998, while advancing to the NCAA Frozen Four 11 times (1992, '93, '95, '96, '97, '98, 2001, '02, '03, '08 and '11). They earned 11 Central Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season championships and nine CCHA Tourna- ment titles, along with one Big Ten Tournament champi- onship. Berenson stands fourth on the all-time wins list in NCAA ice hockey. His 848 victories are behind only Jerry York (1,033), Ron Mason (924) and Jack Parker (897). The now former U-M coach is the only individual ever named Coach of the Year in both the NHL and the NCAA. Berenson mentored a pair of Hobey Baker Award win- ners, Brendan Morrison in 1997 and Kevin Porter in 2008. But at the age of 77, he decided it was time to hang up the whistle. "I think we're doing the right thing," Berenson said, in a gathering that included a Who's-Who of athletic depart- ment personnel. "I talked to Warde about this last year after we had a pretty good year and lost to North Dakota in the [NCAA] regionals, and Warde hadn't even moved here yet. "He had just been named the athletics director, and we agreed that I should come back for another year and have a good year." Berenson will always stand as an iconic figure inside the program and among Michigan hockey fans, and won't likely be far removed from the scene. He professes a Inside Michigan ATHLETICS Red Berenson Calls It A Career At Michigan During his 33-year tenure as Michigan's ice hockey head coach, Berenson led the Wolverines to 848 victories, 11 Frozen Four appear- ances and two national titles. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL

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