4B - April 12, 2010

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

BERENSON
From Page 1B
the medical field. His pre-med
courses were his favorite, and ever
since his sister was diagnosed with
leukemia at a young age, the thought
of being a doctor had always
appealed to him.
But what about the NHL? ockey
meant so much to him, and his high-
ly competitive recruitment seemed
like it had stamped a ticket for him
to the big leagues.
Thoughts of transferring and
leaving this place behind began
to materialize in his mind. He
approached associate head coach
Mel Pearson with his worries, and
Pearson did his best to convince
the defenseman to stick it out, even
with eight other defensemen on the
roster.
"It wasn't always easy here for
Chris," Pearson says.
So Fox broughtchis worries to the
coach Berenson, whose wisdom was
well documented by then.
And Berenson was far from sur-
prised by his young player's com-
plaints. Fox wasn't the first, and
surely not the last blue-chip recruit
to experience an identity crisis
when entering the college ranks.
"All these kids are star play-
ers when they get here, and then
they have to accept a different role
and earn that role," Berenson says.
"When he got here, he was a highly
recruited player ... He really strug-
gled at this level to be ready every
night."
But the coach was the last person
who would let Fox, or any player for
that matter, walk out on his educa-
tion without a fight. He began to
push Fox to focus on his pre-med
classes, explaining that his future,
more than likely, lied in the field of
medicine, not hockey.
The coach's response burned
Fox up inside. He had never had to
face this kind of adversity, and why
would he? Everything on the rink
was easybefore his last two years in
a Michigan uniform.
"Someone was telling me that I
wasn't good enough," Fox recalls.
"And I'd never had that before."
The coach could sense Fox's dis-
content. So he told Fox something
he would never forget. And he never
did.
" 'This is adversity,' he told me.
'This is what a lot of life is about,
facing these challenges and figur-
ing out a way through them and
around them. You'll look on this and
be happy that you had this experi-
ence.'"
Slowly, but surely, after a series
of conversations with his coach, Fox
began to buy in to what Berenson
was preaching. He didn't have to be
a prima donna to fill his niche on the
ice. Soon, BerensonbegantoputFox
out on the ice more often, andbefore
he knew it, Fox had found his place
on the team. And aside from an
assault charge and subsequent pro-
bation stemming from an incident
before his 1997-98 season which
Berenson called uncharacteristic
of Fox, by the end of the year, the
coachingstaff thought his contribu-
tions had become more important
than the pockmark on his record.
The Wolverines won the national
championship in Fox's sophomore
season with Fox playing a small
role, but it was two years later, as a
senior, in which Fox began to take
form right before the coach's eyes.

Michigan coach Red Berenson guided the Wolverines to their 20th straight NCAA appearance this seasonr

It was the 1998 national champi-
onship against Boston College and
the game was deadlocked 17 min-
utes into overtime.
Fox took the puck and faked a
shot from the left point as a Bos-
ton College player went down. Fox
drifted behind the Eagle net and
passed to Josh Langfeld, a freshman
at the time. It was Fox's dump-off
and Langfeld's next shot that sealed
the Wolverines' second National
Championship in three years.
The defenseman remains one of
Berenson's biggest success stories.
To this day, he still gushes about
Fox's story, despite the fact that Fox
never made it to the NHL.
Caporusso retells it to me. Senior
defenseman Steve Kampfer tells me
yet again. Both use Fox as examples
of a player Berenson is most proud of.
"It's not what're we going to do
for you, it's what're you going to do
for Michigan," Fox repeats today
with Berenson's voice echoing
through his speech. "How are you
going to make this a better place?
That's the kind of character he
wants in kids at Michigan. He wants
good hockey players, but really, he
wants good students, good citizens,
good people, people he'd be proud of
to say 20 years down the line that 'I
was proud I coached that kid when
he was 18."'
Since Berenson became Michi-
gan's head coach in 1984, the land-
scape of professional hockey has
changed drastically, making it
increasingly difficult for the aging
coach to relay his message: that
there is life after hockey.
NHL teams began calling play-
ers at a younger and younger age.
Michigan commits began dropping
like flies without their degrees, and
the coach's frustration has become
increasingly obvious; he furrows his
brow as he discusses the state of his
beloved sport.
Players like Andy Hilbert - who
wasdraftedinthesecondround ofthe
2000 NHL Entry Draft by Boston -
leave early to pursue their childhood
dream of playing in the big leagues.
Most don't have a backup plan.
The coach continues to warn his
young players of the dangers of leav-
ing early for the NHL, fearing that
they will someday live his worst

nightmare - being a "hockeybum."
Hilbert, like others after him,
drifts in and out of the NHL, never
truly earning his shot.
They're hockey bums, Beren-
son understands. And now, it's his
goal to save as many of his players
from the same fate. But every year
becomes more of a struggle.
Last season, the Wolverines' best
threat on offense, Aaron Palushaj,
found himself in Berenson's office
after Michigan's season ended in the
firstround ofthe NCAA Tournament.
Palushaj had made up his mind,
and the coach did hisbest to support
his decision. The sophomore for-
ward had been drafted by the Blues,
Berenson's old team, and the temp-
tation was too great not to leave.
"When you're 19 years old and
have to sign apro contract, you really
don't know what's going to happen,"
Palushaj says. "I'm not Andy Hilbert,
I'm a different person. If you think
it's time for you to go, you can't just
sit back and be scared not to sign. You
hold your future in your hands."
An injury hindered Palushaj from
making a splash in his first season.
Then, soon after he became healthy
again, the forward was traded away
to Montreal. Today, Palushaj is with
the Hamilton Bulldogs, fighting
tooth and nail for the dream he left
Ann Arbor to fulfill.
"A lot of guys understand what
Red's talking about after the fact,"
Pearson says. "Maybe when you're
19 or 20, you see the money, you see
the glitz and the glamour, and they
don't realize till later on, 'I knew
what he was doing, he was trying to
protect me.'"
Berenson gets worked up as he
remembers players who left his sys-
tem early. It's almost as if he feels
like he's failed them, and his pater-
nal side begins to show through
with each example he gives. With
each player, he promises the same
thing: "If you're good enough for the
NHL, I'll drive you to the airport."
All of his players know this man-
tra. Jack Johnson, the third pick in
the 2005 NHL Draft, is one of the
few able totake advantage of it. But
he's the exception, not the rule.
This year's team, a team charac-
terized by its response to adversity,
shows signs that it is beginning to
understand Berenson's need to pro-
tect it.
Over winter break, senior walk-

on Eric Elmblad knew he needed
to meet with the coach. He made
his way to the Berenson's office, but
this conversation wouldn't be about
the NHL or professional hockey or
anything about the sport in general.
Elmblad just wanted some advice
about how to succeed in life - away
from the rink - so he went to the
man who he knew had the answers.
The coach told him to make sure
touse alloftheresources aroundhim
at Michigan, explaining all the steps
he took to succeed after his time at
Michigan. Of course Elmblad, an
engineering major, would have loved
to have a career in the NHL; hockey
was, after all, his first love. But a
career in the big leagues wasn't in
the cards for him. Of anyone, having
worked from day one just to preserve
his spot on the team, he understood
the coach's advice all along.
"Coach talks about that life after
hockey all the time," Elmblad tells
me. "This program is not about
becoming a better hockey player -
you're going to be a better hockey
player no matter what. He wants
you to get those attributes that will
help you be better in life."
Chris Fox spent a little over a
year trying to make it in the NHL
after his senior season, buta serious
injury made his shot at the NHL an
afterthought, as well.
But it was the next 11 years, four
in Michigan's medical school and
seven as a neurosurgery resident,
that would prove to cement Fox in
Berenson's mind as a model of the
ideal Michigan hockey player.
"He was kind of a surrogate par-
ent for all of us," Fox said. "Without
him, a lot of us wouldn't be where
we are today. I wouldn't be a neu-
rosurgery resident, I wouldn't have
the kind of personal success I had in
my life without Red."
It was an autumn Sunday in 2006
and Gordie Berenson, son of the
coach, could no longer bear to con-
tinue blowing leaves out of his yard.
Gordie decided to take a break
on his ATV, despite the fact that
he wasn't much of a trail rider. But
there was a nearly 6-mile run span-
ning dirt roads in the area, and
Gordie just couldn't resist.
And as the trail neared its end,
Gordie could see his house within

sight, a few hundred yards away.
That's when Gordie lost control
of his Honda and crashed off the
dirt trail.
Gordie Berenson's body began
to falter. Helpless and unconscious,
Gordie had sustained a serious head
injury that would put his life into
peril. As he was lifted out by heli-
copter, the coach was alerted to
his son's condition and told that he
would need majorhbrain surgery just
to survive through the night.
The coach knew there wasn't
much time, and he wasn't a man
used to things being outside of his
control. So he called the only person
he could trust in this situation to
save his son's fragile life.
He called Chris Fox.
Fox was spending his Sunday
night at home when he answered a
call from the University of Michi-
gan emergency room. He wasn't on-
call, so he knew it could only be bad
news.
"Coach Berenson's son is in
the ER. We thought you'd want to
know," the voice on the other line
told him.
"I'll be there in five minutes," he
responded, heading out the door.
As he entered the emergency
room that night, Fox experienced
a transformation. All the adversity
he had been through in his time at
Michigan, all the struggles to find
his role as aWolverine, they were all
leading up to this moment.
With two doctors on the case,
the process to start Gordie's surgery
was expedited, giving him a much
better chance of survival. But when
it came time for the procedure, Fox
knew that he was too invested in the
case to perform the surgery.
So while Gordie lay on the oper-
ating table, Chris Fox sat with the
entire Berenson family, who had
been in town to watch the coach
accept an award the next day.
Fox tried to keep their spirits up.
But even he wasn't sure if Gordie
would wake up from the surgery.
And if he did, he could never guar-
antee to them that Gordie would
be the same. Gordie's sisters, both
nurses who spent time at the Uni-
versity, prepared their family for the
worst-case scenario.
ButRed Berenson was just thank-
ful to have someone he trusted near-
by, someone he had spent countless
hours trying to make into a man,
someone who understood that he
was no longer the shepherd, he was
a member of the flock.
That Tuesday, the third day after
Gordie's accident, the young Beren-
son regained consciousness in his
hospital bed. He didn't remember
anything after losing control on the
path late Sunday night, but all of his
motor skills were still intact.
Fox and the Michigan medical
team had saved his life.
Berenson still gloats to his play-
ers today about one of the purest
Michigan Men he knows, the one
who heeded his advice and over-
came adversity to do something
more than just play hockey.
"Maize and blue is in my veins,"
Fox says. "And to have this all
come full circle with Gordie and
the Berenson's there as a family,
it was the least I could ever do for
Coach Berenson. It could've gone
either way, and we had a great out-
come. It's a small, small piece of
how I could repay him - a man who
changed my life.
Fox had found the role he was
supposed to play all along.

"There were some issues dur-
ing his career," Gordie tells me last
month, completely recovered from
his accident. "But the fact that he
stayed four years, won two national
titles, goes on to medical school and
to get involved by helping save my
life, it's really special to me every
time I see him. Him filling that role
and getting involved in his coach's
life - it saved my life."
The coach is in a good mood
today, a week removed from his
team's unprecedented and unex-
pected run to the second round of
the NCAA Tournament.
He grips his coffee, always in its
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glass mug, like he has in every other
meeting we've had to this point.
I spot something beside his desk
that I've never seen before - a pic-
ture tacked up to his bulletin board
of a bearded, shirtless man, grin-
ning widely in a long wooden canoe.
The man looks like he's at home.
"That's me in 1972," the coach
says later. The photo was taken on
his annual canoe trip, which he still
takes to this day.Iask him if he's ever
grown out a beard like that since
then, he says no and springs into
a conversation about how today's
NHL players give a bad impression
with their playoff beards. He's still
the same coach.
According to most of his players
and fellow coaches, the 70-year-old
is far from acting his age. Some even
venture to say he's in better shape
than many of his players. There's
also wide consensus that his back-
hand is by far the best on the team.
"I think he could go for another
10 years," Caporusso tells me.
It's been 26 years since he took
over a struggling program. Twenty-
six years since he had to stand out
on the Diag just to sell tickets to fans
and convince them to support the
hockey program.
He gestures to another picture
behind his desk, it's of him and two
other men, one I recognize as Don
Canham. It's from the first day he
took over for John Giordano, Michi-
gan's last coachbefore him.
"If someone would've told me
then it would've taken five years to
get this teamback on it's feet, I don't
know if I would've taken the job," he
jokes, dryly.
But it's 26 years after that photo
was taken, and Red Berenson has
gotten pretty comfortable.
For the last two years, the coach
has signed one-year contracts,
meeting with associate athletic
director Mike Stevenson to discuss
his future. His meeting to decide on
next season should take place soon.
Those close to him insist they
have no idea how long he'll stick
around Yost Ice Arena. Gordie con-
tends that even the coach's wife, Joy,
has no concept of when his hockey
career will end.
"There's a time," Berenson tells
me. "I'm getting closer to the time.
I don't know when that time is, but
it's not far away. And maybe a year
like this would make it tougher to
enjoy the job. But still, I think we're
still doing the right thing here.
"They know I won't stay here for-
ever."
Immediately after the Wolver-
ines' run ended in the NCAA Mid-
west Regional in Fort Wayne, Ind.
just weeks ago, Elmblad, the walk-
on who hadn't appeared in a game
all season long, approached the
coach. He grabbed his large, weath-
ered hand and shook it, looking him
straight in the eyes as if to thank
him for the four years that Elmblad *
had worked his entire life for.
It didn't matter that the walk-on
had played very little in his college
hockey career. According to him, he
had earned something much more
valuable in his four years at Michi-
gan than simply time on the ice.
Less than a week later, Elmblad
stood at the podium in front of a
packed room at the Sheraton Four
Points hotel for the team's end-of-
the-year banquet. of the five gradu-
ating seniors, Elmblad was the only
one without prospects in profes-
sional hockey.
Looking out across the banquet
room, tears ran down Elmblad's
face. So many people had helped

him get to this podium, he stood
silent for a brief moment, over-
whelmedby the realization.
But as his goodbye speech came
to an emotional crescendo, Elmblad
looked in the direction of the coach:
his surrogate father, his mentor, his
confidant.
The coach, Gordon "Red" Beren-
son, was and would always be the
face of the Michigan hockey pro-
gram, a program which had given
Elmblad, as it had for Fox, some-
thing he would have never received
anywhere else.
"Thank you, coach," Elmblad
said, "for making me a Michigan
Man."
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