Red Berenson
Berenson with the Montreal Canadiens in the 1960s
Born (1939-12-08) December 8, 1939 (age 84)
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Montreal Canadiens
New York Rangers
St. Louis Blues
Detroit Red Wings
National team  Canada
Playing career 1961–1978
Coaching career
Berenson coaching the Michigan Wolverines
Biographical details
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
Playing career
1959–1962Michigan
Position(s)Left Wing
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1978–1979St. Louis Blues (assistant)
1979–1982St. Louis Blues
1982–1984Buffalo Sabres (assistant)
1984–2017Michigan
Head coaching record
Overall848–426–92 (.654) [College]
100–72–32 (.569) [NHL]
Tournaments30–23 (.566)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Awards
Records
Most Wins by a Michigan Hockey Coach (848) Most Consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearances by any Team in NCAA History (22 Consecutive from 1991-2012)

Gordon Arthur "Red" Berenson (born December 8, 1939) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team from 1984 to 2017. Berenson was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 and the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.

Playing career

Berenson played junior ice hockey with the Regina Pats, participating in two Memorial Cups in 1956 and 1958. In 1959, Berenson played for the world champion Belleville McFarlands.

Berenson (No. 9) cuts behind the net against Colorado College 1961

Berenson moved on to, and graduated from, Michigan's School of Business and played collegiately at the University of Michigan, winning All-American honors there with an NCAA-leading 43 goals in his final year.

Berenson signed thereafter with the Montreal Canadiens, playing five years in their system and being on a Stanley Cup-winning squad in 1965 before being traded to the New York Rangers, where he played parts of two seasons without success.

Seven weeks into the 1967/1968 NHL season, the St. Louis Blues acquired Berenson and Barclay Plager from the New York Rangers. It was with the Blues where Berenson became one of the new Western Division's first great stars, leading the Blues to three straight Stanley Cup finals and being named the division's best player by his peers in The Sporting News' annual poll each of those years.

Berenson's most notable scoring feat came on November 7, 1968, in a road game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Berenson scored six goals, including four over a nine-minute span. He became the first player to score a double hat trick on a road game.[1] The six-goal total was one shy of the all-time NHL record (set by Joe Malone in 1920), and has been accomplished only once since.

Berenson was named team captain in 1970; however, as he was already 31 years old, the Blues felt his skills were in decline, and traded him in what was considered a shocking deal to the Detroit Red Wings, a multi-player trade receiving centre Garry Unger in return. He was an impact player for Detroit for four seasons, but was having a poor fifth season when he was dealt back to the Blues. The trade rejuvenated him, and he was an effective player for three and a half seasons back in St. Louis before he retired after the 1977–1978 campaign.

Berenson played in the legendary eight-game Summit Series for Team Canada against the Soviet Union in 1972, as well as in the “old-timers” rematch of the Canada Cup in 1987. He played in six NHL All-Star Games.

Altogether, in 17 NHL seasons, Berenson recorded 261 goals and 397 assists in 987 games.

Coaching career

Berenson retired from playing in 1978 and joined the Blues' coaching staff. He became the team's head coach midway through the 1979–80 season. A year later, he won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's Coach of the Year.

Berenson returned to his alma mater as head coach in 1984 and remained in the position for 33 seasons. He led the Wolverines to 11 Frozen Four appearances, and NCAA championships in 1996 and 1998. In CCHA competition, his teams have won 11 regular-season and 9 tournament titles. In addition, Berenson's squads qualified for the NCAA tournament for 22 consecutive seasons from 1991 to 2012.[2] This is the longest streak ever in college hockey history. The Wolverines have also won 15 Great Lakes Invitational titles under Berenson.

On January 10, 2015, Berenson became the fourth coach in Division I men's hockey history reach 800 career wins.[3] Berenson was named the 2015–16 Big Ten Coach of the Year after leading the Wolverines to a 22–7–5 regular-season record, including a 12–5–3–2 record in Big Ten play.[4]

On April 10, 2017, Berenson announced his retirement as head coach of the Michigan Wolverine men's ice hockey team after 33 years. He finished his career with an 848–426–92 record in 1,366 games, and helped lead Michigan to a record 36 NCAA tournament appearances.[5]

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-WCHA First Team 1960–61, 1961–62
AHCA West All-American 1960–61, 1961–62
All-NCAA All-Tournament First Team 1962 [6]
Big Ten Coach of the Year 2015–16 [4]
NHL All-Star Game 1965, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1955–56 Regina Pats SJHL — — — — — — — — — —
1955–56 Regina Pats M-Cup — — — — — 5 0 0 0 0
1956–57 Regina Pats SJHL 51 21 23 44 86 7 3 4 7 4
1957–58 Regina Pats SJHL 51 46 49 95 62 27 11 20 31 49
1957–58 Regina Pats M-Cup — — — — — 5 0 0 0 0
1958–59 Belleville McFarlands EOHL 1 2 1 3 2 — — — — —
1958–59 Flin Flon Bombers WCJHL — — — — — 10 10 9 19 10
1958–59 Flin Flon Bombers M-Cup — — — — — 6 3 3 6 2
1959–60 Michigan Wolverines WCHA 28 12 7 19 12 — — — — —
1960–61 Michigan Wolverines WCHA 28 24 25 49 — — — — — —
1961–62 Michigan Wolverines WCHA 28 43 27 70 40 — — — — —
1961–62 Montreal Canadiens NHL 4 1 2 3 4 5 2 0 2 4
1962–63 Hull-Ottawa Canadiens EPHL 30 23 25 48 28 — — — — —
1962–63 Montreal Canadiens NHL 37 2 6 8 15 5 0 0 0 0
1963–64 Montreal Canadiens NHL 69 7 9 16 12 7 0 0 0 4
1964–65 Quebec Aces AHL 65 22 34 56 16 5 1 2 3 8
1964–65 Montreal Canadiens NHL 3 1 2 3 0 9 0 1 1 2
1965–66 Quebec Aces AHL 34 17 36 53 14 6 1 5 6 2
1965–66 Montreal Canadiens NHL 23 3 4 7 12 — — — — —
1966–67 New York Rangers NHL 30 0 5 5 2 4 0 1 1 2
1967–68 New York Rangers NHL 19 2 1 3 2 — — — — —
1967–68 St. Louis Blues NHL 55 22 29 51 22 18 5 2 7 9
1968–69 St. Louis Blues NHL 76 35 47 82 43 12 7 3 10 20
1969–70 St. Louis Blues NHL 67 33 39 72 38 16 7 5 12 8
1970–71 St. Louis Blues NHL 45 16 26 42 12 — — — — —
1970–71 Detroit Red Wings NHL 24 5 12 17 4 — — — — —
1971–72 Detroit Red Wings NHL 78 28 41 69 16 — — — — —
1972–73 Detroit Red Wings NHL 78 13 30 43 8 — — — — —
1973–74 Detroit Red Wings NHL 76 24 42 66 28 — — — — —
1974–75 Detroit Red Wings NHL 27 3 3 6 8 — — — — —
1974–75 St. Louis Blues NHL 44 12 19 31 12 2 1 0 1 -
1975–76 St. Louis Blues NHL 72 20 27 47 47 3 1 2 3 0
1976–77 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 21 28 49 8 4 0 0 0 4
1977–78 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 13 25 38 12 — — — — —
NHL totals 987 261 397 658 305 85 23 14 37 49

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1959 Canada WC 8 9 4 13 —
1972 Canada SS 2 0 1 1 0
Senior totals 10 9 5 14 —

Head coaching record

NHL

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Division rank Result
St. Louis Blues 1979–80 56 27 20 9 63 2nd in Smythe Lost in preliminary round
St. Louis Blues 1980–81 80 45 18 17 107 1st in Smythe Lost in quarter-finals
St. Louis Blues 1981–82 68 28 34 6 62 3rd in Norris (fired)
Total 204 100 72 32      

College

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Michigan Wolverines (CCHA) (1984–2013)
1984–85 Michigan 13–26–1 11–20–1 t-7th CCHA first round
1985–86 Michigan 12–26–0 10–22–0 8th CCHA first round
1986–87 Michigan 14–25–1 11–20–1 7th CCHA first round
1987–88 Michigan 22–19–0 17–15–0 5th CCHA first round
1988–89 Michigan 22–15–4 17–11–4 4th CCHA first round
1989–90 Michigan 24–12–6 16–11–5 4th CCHA consolation game (win)
1990–91 Michigan 34–10–3 24–5–3 2nd NCAA Quarterfinals
1991–92 Michigan 32–9–3 22–7–3 1st NCAA Frozen Four
1992–93 Michigan 30–7–3 23–5–2 2nd NCAA Frozen Four
1993–94 Michigan 33–7–1 24–5–1 1st NCAA West Regional semifinals
1994–95 Michigan 30–8–1 22–4–1 1st NCAA Frozen Four
1995–96 Michigan 34–7–2 22–6–2 t-1st NCAA national champion
1996–97 Michigan 35–4–4 21–3–3 1st NCAA Frozen Four
1997–98 Michigan 34–11–1 22–7–1 2nd NCAA national champion
1998–99 Michigan 25–11–6 17–8–5 2nd NCAA East Regional semifinals
1999–00 Michigan 27–10–4 19–6–3 1st NCAA East Regional semifinals
2000–01 Michigan 27–13–5 16–9–3 t-2nd NCAA Frozen Four
2001–02 Michigan 28–11–5 19–5–4 1st NCAA Frozen Four
2002–03 Michigan 30–10–3 18–7–3 2nd NCAA Frozen Four
2003–04 Michigan 27–14–2 18–8–2 1st NCAA Northeast Regional Finals
2004–05 Michigan 31–8–3 21–3–2 1st NCAA Midwest Regional Finals
2005–06 Michigan 21–15–5 13–10–5 3rd NCAA West Regional semifinals
2006–07 Michigan 26–14–1 18–9–1 2nd NCAA West Regional semifinals
2007–08 Michigan 33–6–4 24–4–4 1st NCAA Frozen Four
2008–09 Michigan 29–12–0 20–8–0–0 2nd NCAA East Regional semifinals
2009–10 Michigan 26–18–1 14–13–1–0 t-7th NCAA Midwest Regional Finals
2010–11 Michigan 29–11–4 20–7–1–0 1st NCAA runner-up
2011–12 Michigan 24–13–4 15–9–4–1 t-2nd NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals
2012–13 Michigan 18–19–3 10–15–3–3 7th CCHA runner-up
Michigan: 770–371–80 524–262–68
Michigan Wolverines (Big Ten) (2013–2017)
2013–14 Michigan 18–13–4 10–8–2–1 3rd Big Ten Quarterfinals
2014–15 Michigan 22–15–0 12–8–0 3rd Big Ten Runner-Up
2015–16 Michigan 25–8–5 12–5–3–2 2nd NCAA Midwest Regional Finals
2016–17 Michigan 13–19–3 6–12–2–2 5th Big Ten Quarterfinals
Michigan: 78–55–12 40–33–6
Total: 848–426–92

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also

References

  1. ^ Hockey’s Book of Firsts, p.27, James Duplacey, JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9
  2. ^ Cunningham, Pete. "Michigan hockey's 22-year NCAA Tournament streak snapped with CCHA final loss to Notre Dame". Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  3. ^ "Red Berenson's Road to 800 Career Wins". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. January 10, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Connor, Berenson Head List of All-Big Ten Award Winners". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. March 14, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  5. ^ Sipple, George (April 10, 2017). "Legendary Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson retires". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  6. ^ "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved 2013-06-19.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Red Berenson.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by WCHA Most Valuable Player
1961–62 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Jack Adams Award
1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by CCHA Coach of the Year
1993–94
2007–08 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Spencer Penrose Award
2007–08 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Big Ten Coach of the Year
2015–16 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Hobey Baker Legends of College Hockey Award
2018 		Succeeded by
Sporting positions
Preceded by St. Louis Blues captain
1970–71
1976
1977–78 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Detroit Red Wings captain
1973 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Barclay Plager
 Head coach of the St. Louis Blues
1979–82 		Succeeded by
St. Louis Blues
Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey
Categories