Gordon Arthur "Red" Berenson (born December 8, 1939) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

centre, world champion,

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

champion 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 Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

s 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 The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, winning All-American honors there with an NCAA-leading 43 goals in his final year. Berenson signed thereafter with the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

, playing five years in their system and being on a

-winning squad in 1965 before being traded to the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

, 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 nine minutes. He became the first player to score a double hat trick on a road game. 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

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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 The Jack Adams Award is awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) coach "adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success." The league's Coach of the Year award has been presented 51 times to 43 coaches. The winner is select ...

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. 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 to reach 800 career wins. 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. 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.

Awards and honors

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Head coaching record

NHL

College

References

External links

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Red of the Blues – TIME
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berenson, Red 1939 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Buffalo Sabres coaches Canada men's national ice hockey team coaches Canada men's national ice hockey team players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian people of Swedish descent Detroit Red Wings captains Detroit Red Wings players Flin Flon Bombers players Ice hockey people from Regina, Saskatchewan Jack Adams Award winners Lester Patrick Trophy recipients Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey coaches Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey players Montreal Canadiens players New York Rangers players Regina Pats players Ross School of Business alumni St. Louis Blues coaches St. Louis Blues players Stanley Cup champions United States Hockey Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Canadian sportsmen