NATIONAL CHAMPION
1996
DIVISION I
ICE HOCKEY
CHAMPIONSHIP
NATIONAL CHAMPION
1998
DIVISION I
ICE HOCKEY
CHAMPIONSHIP
1984
1990
1996
1998
2015
2014
Berenson earns first
win as Michigan
head coach
Berenson earns 800th
win as Michigan head
coach
Berenson passes
Rick Comley for 4th
place on all-time
wins list
Michigan wins
second national
championship
under Berenson
Michigan makes first
NCAA tournament
apperance since 1977
Berenson earns 300th
win, Michigan wins
eighth national
championship over
Colorado College
BSportsMonday
OOP, THERE IT IS
n A late alley-oop clinched Michigan’s
home win over Minnesota on Saturday,
the Wolverines’ second straight victory.
Page 4B
WORTH THE HYPE
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | January 12, 2015
n Zach Hyman leads Michigan in goals,
but the plays that don’t show up in the
box score merit Hobey Baker consider-
ation, writes Erin Lennon. Page 2B
R
ed Berenson hopes this story will be about
something other than himself.
His team just beat
the No. 9 team in the country,
won eight of its last nine games
and moved to the top of the
Big Ten standings, but I’m not
discussing that success. Instead,
I feel compelled to write about
his 800th win as a coach in his
college hockey career, because it’s
mind-boggling that someone can
win 800 games at any level in any
sport.
Berenson joined a list of three
other coaches in college hockey Saturday night, and
it’s important that everyone realizes how much effort
and how much time goes into that achievement.
There are no more than 40 games in a season, and
that’s only if a team makes the Frozen Four. Berenson
is now 800-391-84 in 31 seasons.
He started when he was 44 years old, compared to
the three other 800-game winners — Jerry York, Ron
Mason and Jack Parker — who all started before they
turned 29. He had to transform a struggling program
that couldn’t pay its fans to attend games into one
that captured two national championships.
Feats such as these are rare and special. But then,
so are coaches like Berenson. These are the feats that
capture the attention of those who otherwise haven’t
kept track or wouldn’t pay attention. These are the
feats that deserve that attention.
But he doesn’t want this story written. He’s not
interested in celebrating the accomplishment any
more than he’s interested in celebrating his birthday.
“I read about (the milestone) more than I think
about it,” he said on Wednesday. “I just had my 75th
birthday, and I didn’t celebrate that, and I didn’t
celebrate New Years and I didn’t even celebrate the
GLI (the team’s first title since 2011).”
***
T
his milestone almost never happened. Just
last year, Berenson was ready to retire.
Michigan had lost in the first round of the Big
Ten Tournament and missed out on the postseason
for the second year in a row.
He said he thought about leaving hockey because
he “can’t handle losing” and “can’t handle a team
underachieving.” He’s back now, of course, but was
willing to leave hockey because he knows losing
starts with the coaching staff, and he wasn’t leading
his team to success.
There’s a story — one Berenson may not even
remember — of a little boy and his grandfather
meeting him for the first time. They are introduced,
and Berenson asks the seven-year-old, “Do you know
how to skate?”
The boy acknowledged that he had not learned
how. With a straight face, Berenson replied, “If you
can’t skate, then you can’t play hockey, and if you
can’t play hockey, then what are you?”
Berenson’s life is hockey. But he’s willing to give it
up in order for the Wolverines to win.
***
Mr. 800
Berenson gets win No. 800 as
Michigan sweeps No. 9 Minnesota
at Yost
By JEREMY SUMMITT
Daily Sports Editor
Red Berenson’s 31-year tenure as the head coach of
the Michigan hockey program has comprised an era of
prestige laden with countless awards and accomplish-
ments.
His first-ever win came in Berenson’s first game as
head coach of his alma mater on Oct. 12, 1984, a 6-4
victory at Miami (Ohio). And on Saturday, Berenson
became the fourth coach to eclipse the 800-win mark
after his Wolverines pounded Minnesota, 7-5.
“I can remember my first game at Michigan was
at Miami and we won the game, and our team was so
surprised that we won that they were celebrating like
we’d won the Stanley Cup, and I knew we were in trou-
ble,” Berenson said.
However, in just a few years, things took a drastic
turn, as Berenson began to build Michigan hockey
into a dynasty. The journey from his first win against
Miami (Ohio) to Saturday’s victory has been a long
but memorable one with two national titles, 11 Frozen
Four appearances, 11 conference championships and
22 NCAA Tournament berths sandwiched in between.
Behind four first-period goals, the Wolverines (4-1
Big Ten, 12-7 overall) put an old-fashioned beatdown
on the ninth-ranked Golden Gophers (1-2-1, 10-7-1) for
their eighth win in their past 10 games.
“We were happy with the amount of goals we put up,
obviously, offensively,” said sophomore forward Tyler
Motte. “But defensively, we gave up a little too much
in our D-zone. We’ll give up shots as long as they’re
not grade-A opportunities, and that’s what we saw too
much of, I think, this weekend.”
With Michigan clinging on to a 2-1 lead in the final
minute of the first period, senior forward Zach Hyman
and sophomore forward JT Compher scored exactly
30 seconds apart to take a 4-1 lead into the first inter-
mission. The other Wolverine goals came off the sticks
of senior forward Travis Lynch and junior forward
Andrew Copp at the 12:48 and 14:27 marks, respec-
tively.
“Coach (Berenson) was on us that we need to be
prepared and start on time today,” Hyman said. “Even
though we gave up that first goal, I think we outshot
them in the first period and getting four back in the
period, we end up exploding a little bit in that period,
and that was huge for us.”
Minnesota forward Travis Boyd carried a large load
all weekend, tallying a goal in Friday’s contest before
netting the first two goals for the Golden Gophers
on Saturday. His first was the product of a perfectly
threaded pass from forward Seth Ambroz, who split
the Michigan defense just over seven minutes into the
game.
Ambroz would also net a goal of his own with a well-
executed redirect off a shot from the point, coming
just 14 seconds after Michigan’s sophomore defense-
man Michael Downing scored his fourth of the season.
Downing’s tally was enough for coach Don Lucia to
pull the reigning Big Ten Goaltender of the Year, Adam
Wilcox, for the first time all season.
Playing a large part in Michigan’s offensive outburst
was Dylan Larkin, who’s coming off a dynamite per-
formance for Team USA in the World Junior Champi-
onships. Larkin never missed a beat upon his return to
Ann Arbor, as he would net the Wolverines’ final two
goals to extend his point total to 20 on the year.
“A lot’s going right,” Copp said regarding Michi-
gan’s offense. “I think our power play did a really good
job today… We’re getting pucks behind their (defense),
we’re cycling pretty well down low, we’re scoring off
the rush, scoring off faceoffs, power play like I said,
so it seems like any possible way that we can put the
puck in the net, it’s going
See BERENSON, Page 2B
See SPORTSMONDAY, Page 2B
GREG
GARNO
The milestone
Red doesn’t
celebrate
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily