Former Blues player and coach Red Berenson has behind the bench at the University of Michigan for the last 26 seasons.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Red Berenson savored the moments, reliving one unforgettable night at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. It was Nov. 7, 1968, and Berenson remembers how he had not been scoring much for the St. Louis Blues, even though he was expected to be one of the team’s leading scorers.
But that night, Berenson not only established himself, he did it in record-setting fashion, scoring six goals in one game against the Flyers. No other National Hockey League player has ever duplicated Berenson’s double hat trick feat in a road game.
“We had played Detroit a couple of nights earlier and I hadn’t scored a lot, but I assisted on a couple of Camille Henry’s goals,” recalled Berenson, a center for the Blues. “I believe Camille scored the first ever St. Louis Blues hat trick that night and we were all excited for him. Then a couple of games later, I got hot.”
Hot? Berenson was on fire.
“It was just one of those games,” he said. “Scotty (Bowman, coach of the Blues) played me a lot and we had momentum. The thing I do remember is they were all good goals. No rebounds, no deflections or power play goals. It was all five-on-five hockey. When you listen to the broadcast, I think Dan Kelly might have enjoyed it more than I did.”
Berenson was honored on November 18 at the first St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame 2009 Enshrinement at the Millennium Hotel. He received the Star of the Game Award for the six-goal game. Berenson, who for the last 26 years has been the head coach of the University of Michigan men’s hockey team, has many fond memories of St. Louis. He did two tours of duty as a player and then served as assistant coach and head coach with the Blues.
“When I think of St. Louis, I think of the camaraderie we had on those early teams, especially those first four years,” he said. “We went to the Stanley Cup finals the first three and we had a great bunch of guys. Whether we all had something to prove, Glenn Hall, the Plagers, Jimmy Roberts…we were all best friends. We had so much fun together on and off the ice.”
The old Arena was jammed to the rafters most nights and Berenson talked about how supportive the fans were in those days.
“They adopted the team,” he said. “They gave us so much support. Every day you went to the rink you felt responsible. You’d say to yourself, ‘We’d better do well.’ We had a hard-driving coach in Scotty Bowman who knew how to win. He made us win and find ways to win and learn how to win.”
A special night
The six-goal game was Berenson’s great moment in history with the Blues. He talked about how everything went right that night. On one of those goals, his shot sailed over the shoulder of goaltender Doug Favell.
“I wasn’t even aiming for that corner, but that’s the way it goes when you’re having a good night,” he said with a laugh.
Berenson said he used one stick to score five of the goals, but later in the game he felt like the stick was going to crack. Blues trainer Tommy Woodcock handed him another stick.
“I remember Tommy giving me the stick and it felt like a club,” said Berenson. “I took it out there and sure enough, that’s the one I scored the sixth goal with.”
On that evening, the fans at The Spectrum – a notorious snake pit for opposing teams – began cheering Berenson as the game went on.
“You know how hostile they were,” he said. “Philadelphia fans hated St. Louis and the Blues. But that night, they just got into it.”
While the Flyer fans cheered Berenson, they jeered Philly defenseman Ed Van Impe, who was on the ice for most of Berenson’s goals. Kelly’s play-by-play on radio details the moments vividly…”Berenson round Van Impe, skates in…he shoots, he scores!”
“I didn’t like Van Impe,” said Berenson. “He must have broken a few sticks over my arms to try and stop me that night.”
After the game, goalie Glenn Hall jabbed Berenson, saying “at least you were a plus tonight.” The players went out to celebrate in Philadelphia after the game.
“I remember Glenn saying, ‘Red, you’ve had your hands in the air all night. How about putting them in your pocket and buying us a drink?’” said Berenson, laughing.
The offensive pounding by Berenson and the Blues, coupled with the physical torment players like Bob and Barclay Plager, Noel Picard and others unleashed on the Flyers during those early years moved the Philadelphia management to begin building a tough team that eventually became known as the “Broad Street Bullies.”
“It helped them win a couple of Stanley Cups in the 1970s,” said Berenson.
In February 1971, Berenson and Tim Ecclestone were traded by the Blues to Detroit for Garry Unger and Wayne Connelly. Fans in both cities were unhappy about the trade. Berenson had become a fan favorite with the Blues and Unger, with his long, flowing blond hair, was loved by Detroit fans.
Berenson spent four years in Detroit and then returned to the Blues in 1974 in a trade which sent Phil Roberto to the Red Wings. Berenson finished his career with the Blues, retiring in 1978. He became an assistant to Barclay Plager and helped rebuild the Blues to respectability. Later, when illness forced Plager to step aside, Berenson took over as head coach and spent three seasons molding the Blues into a formidable National Hockey League team.
In 1980-81, the Blues finished second overall in the NHL with a record of 45-18-17 for 107 points – then a club record. The Blues had many stars that year as 10 players scored 20 goals or more. The forwards, led by Bernie Federko, Brian Sutter, Wayne Babych, Blake Dunlop, Jorgen Pettersson, Mike Zuke, Tony Currie, Larry Patey and Perry Turnbull, were young and talented and Eddie Kea, Rick LaPointe, Bryan Maxwell and Jack Brownschidle anchored a solid defense. Goalie Mike Liut was phenomenal in the nets and finished second to Wayne Gretzky in the voting for the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP that season. Berenson won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s Coach of the Year.
Berenson calls those coaching years in St. Louis “bittersweet.”
“The first couple of years as assistant coach under Barc, we really had to bite the bullet with young players and we were at the bottom of the barrel. I was the benefactor when I took over as those guys started to mature and develop. Guys like Federko, Sutter and Babych began to get confidence and Mike Liut stood tall for us in goal. We became a pretty good team. That team was an exciting part of St. Louis’ reemergence in hockey.”
A new opportunity
In March of 1982, GM Emile Francis fired Berenson and took over behind the bench. Berenson reunited with Bowman in Buffalo for a time and in 1984, he was hired as head coach at his alma mater, the University of Michigan.
Twenty of Red Berenson's former Michigan players currently play in the NHL.
Berenson has always strongly believed in players going to school and graduating from college so they have something to fall back on after the end of their hockey career. Michigan is one of the top educational institutions in the country. Berenson is proud of the school’s hockey program because more than 90 percent of the students who play there graduate with a degree.
“If you spend four years here, you will graduate with a degree,” said Berenson. “I remember when I was a young player how everyone told me I was crazy to go to school,” he said. “I’m still fighting that battle recruiting kids. People tell these kids they are crazy to go to school, but I think you can be a good student and a good player.”
He cites Liut, who graduated from Bowling Green, and defensemen Joe Micheletti and Bill Baker, who graduated from the University of Minnesota, and Brownschidle, a Notre Dame grad, as prime examples.
Coaching college kids has been a labor of love for Berenson. He’s had many chances to go back and coach in the NHL, but he’s never been one to seek out new jobs or move from place to place.
In fact, if his coaching career would have worked out in St. Louis, “I would have stayed there,” he said. “My heart was in St. Louis.”
At Michigan, he’s become a legendary figure. He admits it hasn’t been easy building the Wolverines into a perennial powerhouse. He is blessed with two loyal assistants: Billy Powers, who has been there 15 years and Mel Pearson, who has served 20 years as an assistant to Berenson. He refers to the group as a “coaching team.” Powers and Pearson do about 90 percent of the recruiting, but he still gets out and recruits from time to time.
“I still put a lot of pressure on myself…this is not a comfortable job,” said the redhead, who played at Michigan between 1959 and 1962, when he graduated. He went right to the NHL with the New York Rangers, beginning a successful 17-year journey in the NHL.
Michigan hockey has enjoyed great success under Berenson’s guidance. The Wolverines have gone to the post-season tournament 19 consecutive years, a milestone achieved by no other collegiate team. His teams have appeared in 10 Frozen Four tournaments and won the NCAA championship in 1996 and 1998. Coming into this season, Berenson's coaching record at Michigan was 673-310-68. Only seven other collegiate coaches have recorded more than 600 wins. His 673 victories rank seventh among all-time NCAA coaches. In 2008, he won the American Hockey Coaches Association's Spencer Penrose Award as the National Coach of the Year for the first time in his tenure after leading the Wolverines to a 33-6-4 record and a berth in the Frozen Four.
“What is appealing is the opportunity to teach young players and watch them grow over four years," he said. "It never gets boring because as those young players blossom, they graduate and are replaced by a new crop.
“I still like hockey and I like the kids. I like the enthusiasm of the kids. We’re recruiting a new class every year. You’re not stuck with them every year like professional hockey, where I might get sick of them and they might get sick of me.”
Developing players
What many people don’t know is the success Berenson has enjoyed developing talent. Michigan has 20 former players currently playing in the NHL, which is the most of any U.S. college by far. Some of the more notable players include New Jersey forward John Madden, Dallas goalie Marty Turco, Montreal forward Mike Cammalleri, Los Angeles defenseman Jack Johnson and New York Islanders forwards Mike Comrie and Jeff Tambellini.
“It makes me feel good,” Berenson said of helping young players advance to the big time. “I’m not surprised that so many have made it, but it’s very gratifying to help kids get an education and live their dreams as players, too.
“But there are kids who didn’t make it to the NHL, who I’m just as proud of, who are neurosurgeons, lawyers, you name it. We all know the odds of making it to the NHL are pretty slim, no matter where you play. “
There have also been graduates such as defenseman Mike Hunwick, who were drafted in late rounds and have become success stories. Boston drafted Hunwick in the seventh round. The Bruins have re-tooled their management team in recent years and they have elevated Hunwick, who is now a fixture on the Boston back line.
“To me, that’s ideal when a kid like Hunwick makes it,” said Berenson. “He’s strong, he’s fast and he’s mature. He plays every night and he’s happy. He’s ready. Had he not come to college and had four years to develop, who knows where he would be? The odds of a kid taken in the first round making a living in the NHL are about 50 percent.”
Berenson is one of the most respected college coaches in the country. Bob Mancini is the development coach for the Edmonton Oilers, who play the Blues tonight, and formerly coached at Ferris State and Michigan Tech. He marvels at the job Berenson and his staff have done recruiting, coaching and developing players.
Red Berenson celebrated his 70th birthday this week but still took to the ice recently to play in the annual Michigan alumni game.
“They deserve a lot of credit for not just the top-end kids, but also helping good players, who may or not be NHLers, improve their game and put them in a position to make the NHL,” said Mancini, who recruited and signed forward Andrew Cogliano out of Michigan after the 2007 season. He made the Oilers right out of training camp and as a rookie, scored 18 goals.
“What Red Berenson does really well is give his players a sense of reality about the game and reaching the NHL,” said Mancini. “Playing in the NHL is hard…really hard. Red makes sure his players know that and what it takes to make it.”
Anaheim Ducks forward Brendan Morrison played for Berenson at Michigan. He went there because the program has a long track record of turning players into pros. He was attracted to that, plus the solidarity of the coaching staff.
“The fact that Red went to Michigan and was one of the first players to go from college directly to the NHL helps as well,” said Morrison. “He’s kind of a pioneer in that sense.”
What’s remarkable is the fact that Berenson’s been around for so long, he’s now coaching the sons of players who toiled for him when he coached in the NHL. In May, Berenson was extremely proud after Travis Turnbull, son of former Blues winger Perry Turnbull, completed a four-year career with the Wolverines and graduated with a degree. Travis grew up playing amateur hockey in St. Louis, which Berenson acknowledges has become a hockey hotbed because so many former Blues have dedicated themselves to coaching and developing young players.
“That was neat,” said Berenson of coaching Travis Turnbull. “I don’t think Travis’ career was as good as they hoped it would be at Michigan, but he grew up and matured and got stronger. He really wants to be a hockey player. But he also graduated when he was here, so he got his education.” Travis currently plays for the Buffalo Sabres’ minor league affiliate in Portland, Maine.
Also on that team was winger Aaron Palushaj, who is one of the rare players to leave Michigan before graduating. Palushaj was selected by the Blues in the second round of the 2007 entry draft and signed with the Blues last summer, leaving Michigan after his sophomore season. Berenson tried to talk Palushaj into completing his four years and graduating, but to no avail.
“I didn’t think he was ready for the NHL,” said Berenson. While Palushaj made a nice first impression with the Blues during training camp in September, he didn’t make the club and was sent to Peoria, where is struggling to find his game.
Berenson looks forward to seeing Palushaj in the offseason. Every summer, hockey alums come back to Ann Arbor to visit him and the coaches and participate in a big golf weekend.
“What’s nice is when they graduate they don’t just leave the program. They come back in the summer. It’s kind of a family here,” said Berenson.
Many players who played for the man Blues fans know as the Red Baron will solicit his advice along the way. He enjoys mentoring them, but admits “they don’t always listen.” What’s been integral to Berenson’s success has been his ability to change with the times. A no-nonsense coach, he has always been able to relate to players and communicate. That said, Berenson admits it’s not always easy.
“There are some good things and some not-so-good things with the kids,” he noted. “This is a fast food society. They want it all now and, in some cases, they feel entitled to it.”
What Berenson really savors is teaching the game. He admits that he doesn’t have all the answers and that his life as a coach is a continuously evolving.
“I’m still learning,” said Berneson. “I’ve learned more about hockey since I came to Michigan than I did during my entire time playing in the NHL. I’ve become a student of the game. I’ve got more time to coach in college. In the NHL as a player you were either recovering from your last game or looking forward to the next game.”
Berenson has watched the art of coaching evolve over the years at all levels. He says he’s privileged to be able to attend the Detroit Red Wings’ training camps in recent years and become friends with the Wings’ Mike Babcock, one of the NHL’s most innovative and successful coaches.
“I’ve learned so much…it’s been very good for me,” he said. “Here I am 70 years old and I’m still so excited about the things I’m learning about the game.”
Berenson takes great pride in what he’s accomplished during his 26 seasons at Michigan. He’s proud of the program and what’s gone into building it into a perennial powerhouse. He lives for the chance to appear in and win the Frozen Four each year, but Berenson also understands the Herculean task of going all the way. He cites last year’s tournament, won by Boston University.
“It’s so tough when you get to the tournament, but they played unbelievable,” he said. “They got the breaks they needed. Here, it’s a one-game shootout and it all has to fall in place for a team to make it all the way.”
Berenson is gunning for college hockey’s Holy Grail again this season. Does he see a point where he might retire to a life of leisure with his wife Joy, sons Rusty and Gordie and eight grandkids?
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m on a year-to-year contract. They have been good to me here. I have no concrete plans. We’ll talk about it at the end of the season, but right now I have no plans to hang it up.”
Comments
tomhunter8 (anonymous) says...
Great article, George! I would love to see a regular "Where are they now" type of column. The Blues have a lot of young fans that could greatly benefit from learning about the history of the franchise.
December 11, 2009 at 8:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jaj (anonymous) says...
Nice job George! Those early day's of hockey, here in St.Louis, was like a cult. You can never duplicate the sounds of hockey, as was aired and delivered by, Dan Kelly and Gus Kyle. I must confess, that listening to Kerbs and Chase, is a delight and I wish more fan's, could listen to them both, as they both bring a lot of action and excitement to the broadcast. Getting back to Berenson, he was to me growing up the like's of Musial and Pettit here in St.Louis. Thank's for the story! I agree with the above comment, about a "Where are they now" format for hockey. I use to read your columns in the old Globe day's when you followed the Blue's.
December 11, 2009 at 9:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
etblues (anonymous) says...
Outstanding article....the reason I played road hockey all over the south side. All my friends as well. Long live the Redhead!!!
December 11, 2009 at 5:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )