Red Berenson

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Red Berenson bigraphy, stories - Canadian ice hockey player

Red Berenson : biography

December 8, 1939 –

Gordon Arthur "Red, The Red Baron" Berenson (born December 8, 1939) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey centre and is currently in his 30th year as head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men’s ice hockey team.

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. He returned to his Alma Mater as Head Coach in 1984 and has remained in the position ever since. Berenson has 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, and the Wolverines have secured a winning record since Berenson’s second year at the helm. In addition, Berenson’s squads have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 21 seasons. This is the longest streak ever in college hockey history. His all-time record as Michigan’s Head Coach is 749–350–77, a record which currently places him 5th in NCAA history for career victories. The Wolverines have also won 13 Great Lakes Invitational titles under Berenson.

Berenson pled guilty in 1994 to a charge of impaired driving.

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 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.

He 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 Red Berenson along with Barclay Plager from the New York Rangers. It was with the Blues where he 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.

His 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.Hockey’s Book of Firsts, p.27, James Duplacey, JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9 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, already 31 years old, the Blues felt his skills could only 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 more seasons 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.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
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