JAMES COLLER/Daily
Assistant coach Brian Wiseman spent eight years in the oil and gas business while living with his family in Houston. Then, he got the itch to coach again, so Red Berenson brought him back to Ann Arbor.
approval,
and
Wiseman
was
reunited with his old coach,
becoming
the
third
former
Wolverine to join the coaching
staff. He emphasized the tie he
has always felt to this program
as the factor that allowed him to
come back to Ann Arbor.
“I used to call back here all
the time. I followed the program
and their success that they had
when I was away from here and
not even involved in hockey,”
Wiseman said. “You always have
a connection here. We have this
alumni event — we had over seven
decades of hockey players show
up. It’s a unique association that
Red’s built here. Once you’re a part
of it, you’re always a part of it.”
***
The connection that Wiseman
felt
wasn’t
an
anomaly.
For
Shields, he was always certain of
one thing: He felt like Ann Arbor
was a second home, and he wanted
to come back.
Though Wiseman and Shields
went their separate ways in 1994,
they never lost touch, eventually
allowing Shields to fulfill his
dream of returning to Yost.
The timing couldn’t have been
more perfect for Shields. After
retiring from a 12-year NHL
career, Berenson and Wiseman
reached out to him when Josh
Blackburn could no longer serve
as the goaltender coach.
Entering his sixth month as
a member of the staff, Shields’
impact has already made a mark.
Described as “the biggest kid
on the ice” by junior goaltender
Zach Nagelvoort, Shields has
become a refreshing presence in
the Wolverines’ locker room.
“(The players feel) way more
comfortable,”
Powers
said.
“And these two, like Shields and
Komisarek, just the blending in
with these guys is unbelievable.
They don’t have to be a ‘coach.’
They’re more like a help or guide.
So they can really have a pretty
unique relationship that we can’t
have with the players.”
Even now, pretty much every
night after work, Shields ends
up with Wiseman and his family
hanging out.
“I’m basically part of Wiseman’s
family at this point,” Shields said.
“I’m just always around.”
The
pair’s
relationship
is
representative of the broader
connection
that
this
hockey
fraternity provides, the same one
that brought these coaches back
together.
***
Komisarek is the final piece
of the coaching staff, an 11-year
NHL veteran who returned to the
program just a year before Shields
as an undergraduate assistant
coach.
Like Shields and Wiseman,
Komisarek suited up for the
Wolverines during a period of
dominance, playing in two of the
eight Frozen Fours that Michigan
reached in an 11-year span.
And like every other coach that
came before him, it was Berenson
who supplied the road map for his
return.
After
retiring
in
2014,
Komisarek met with Berenson,
who was adamant about his old
blueliner coming back to finish his
degree. With the degree also came
an opportunity to help with the
hockey team.
Once
that
conversation
happened,
Berenson
recruited
Komisarek as fervently as he
recruited players back in 1985,
calling him every couple weeks
asking if he had found a house in
Ann Arbor yet.
Berenson
was
the
reason
Komisarek became a Wolverine in
2000 and the reason he returned
to complete his education last
year. Now, Komisarek is giving
back the same passion that his old
coach showed for him.
“I’m from Long Island, Yankee
Stadium, you know, the House
That Ruth Built. Everytime I
come to this building, I see Yost,
I see the exterior,” Komisarek
said. “I walk in. I see the stands
and the press box, the balcony and
everything that they’ve done in
here is because of Red Berenson. I
don’t think about when he’s going
to leave or when that day (will)
come, but making sure that the
way he started and the way he
built this program is the way he’s
going to leave.
“It’s about getting back to where
we were, where we’re supposed to
be.”
Berenson, in many ways the
program’s patriarch, will begin
his 32nd season as Michigan’s
coach Friday night. Nobody says
much about when that run might
come to an end and what will
follow it, but as the coaches skated
on the Yost ice once more, that
scene might have been glimpse.
You could see into the past. You
could see the foundation Berenson
built and the people who forged
the Michigan hockey program
into what it is today.
And the next day, when the
Wolverines went back to practice,
you could see the present.
Now, given the history that
lives through these coaches, and
the talent these players possess,
maybe we know what’s to come in
the future.
“It’s about getting
back to where we
were, where we’re
supposed to be.”
Thursday, October 15, 2015
FACEOFF 2015
6C