Berenson wins on many different levels, still retains classic flavor of college hockey coach

BOSTON - Michigan coach Red Berenson has done a lot of winning in a lot of different ways.

As a player at Michigan, Berenson earned a reputation as one of the greatest Wolverines of all time. In 1962, his senior year, Berenson led the WCHA - Michigan's conference at the time - with 41 points, including 24 goals and 17 assists. His 43 goals and nine hat tricks in his last year as a Wolverine are still Michigan records.

The success didn't stop there. Berenson went on to a career in the NHL, and won the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1962 - a short time after his last game as a Wolverine. As the coach of the St. Louis Blues in 1981, Berenson won the NHL coach of the year award after leading his team to a record of 45-18-17 - the best in Blues history.

WARREN ZINN/Daily Michigan coach Red Berenson develops a strong rapport with his players. Berenson helped convince forward Bill Muckalt to return to Michigan for his senior year.

But all those awards, all those victories and honors in all the different phases of his life, don't match Berenson's championship wins as a college coach for Michigan. Berenson took over as head coach at Michigan in 1984, and since then has experienced some of his finest hockey moments.

In a sense, Saturday's NCAA championship is just one of those experiences. But in another way, Saturday's victory over Boston College is special - it represents everything Berenson loves about college sports.

"I tried to tell myself, 'Try to enjoy this,'" Berenson said about his composure during the game. "This is a great, great environment. You don't get this in pro hockey. You don't get this environment - the enthusiasm from the fans from both teams.

"Our kids will never have anything like this happen to them. Even if they win a Stanley Cup - believe me, it won't be the same as this kind of experience."

If anyone can judge the value of college hockey, it's Berenson. His numbers as a college coach demonstrate some of his greatness - two national championships, eight consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament, five final fours in the past seven seasons ... the list goes on and on.

But statistics can't really capture what makes Berenson a model of college coaching. Berenson exemplifies what a coach is supposed to be - he fits all the clichés, automatically making him unique.

He cares about hockey, but he values education first.

He demands the respect of everyone around him without ever seeming to try.

He seems to have a magical effect on his players - very few of whom ever leave college early to try their hands at pros, even with the pressures of agents and scouts.

Michigan assistant coach Billy Powers played under Berenson as a Wolverine during the late '80s, and returned a few years after graduating to help on the bench. The native of Sommerville, Mass., represents just one of the reasons Berenson loves to coach - he loves to watch others succeed.

"For (Powers) to come back to his home city and win a national championship in front of 18,000 people, does it get any better than that?" Berenson said. "That's what makes me feel good, when I see other people enjoy this."

More than anything else, he appreciates the purity of sports. He believes in facing opponents straight up, man-to-man, which is why he detests the neutral-zone trap, a technique that takes the edge off the action of a game.

It's almost as if Berenson came to life out of a movie - a character who would be played perfectly by Paul Newman: The wise, weathered coach who's still in such good shape that he's probably better than a lot of his players; who remembers the past with fondness, but embraces life in the present.

Somehow, NCAA Tournament hockey makes all those qualities come out even more. But the NCAAs haven't always been kind to Berenson. He's experienced a great deal of success, but Michigan hasn't always managed to win when expected in years past.

That makes this year's national title - when the Wolverines weren't expected to do much of anything in the tourney - all the more important for Berenson. Even considering all the other honors Berenson has earned over the years, this one was different.

"Like I said, the best team may not win it, but it meant so much to our program, because we had gone so long with a great team, and we'd been in a number of final fours," Berenson said. "We got knocked off in some great college hockey playoff games. ... We finally won it (in 1996) and it was a great, great feeling."

"This game, we shouldn't have been here, we shouldn't have won it, and yet we did. And it's even a greater feeling."

Berenson is in love with the game, which makes it difficult to ever imagine him retiring - although even he has to remind himself every now and then why he does what he does.

"I have enjoyed it, I really have, and yet it kills me sometimes," Berenson said. "I think, 'Why am I doing this? It's not worth it.' But it really is worth it."

After all these years, why is it worth it? What makes an NCAA championship so memorable? For the same reason that Berenson is one of college hockey's coaching greats. His highest priority is his players - their education, their growth, and their success.

"That's the one thing I've learned in college coaching - never think you know everything about these kids," Berenson said. "Because kids will surprise you. And they surprised me again this year and this week."

04-06-98