George Sipple

Detroit Free Press

Allan McNab (Big Al) Renfrew touched many lives during his long association with Michigan athletics, perhaps none more famously than current U-M hockey coach Red Berenson.

Renfrew helped U-M win NCAA hockey titles as a player in 1948 and as a coach in 1964. He amassed a 222-207-11 record in 16 seasons as U-M's coach in 1957-73. He also coached at Michigan Tech and North Dakota.

Renfrew died Monday. He was 89.

Renfrew convinced Berenson to come from Regina, Saskatchewan, to play at U-M, then helped convince him to return to Ann Arbor as coach to try to resurrect the program in the early 1980s.

Berenson said Tuesday he initially was interested in attending North Dakota or Denver when he was researching colleges.

"When I told him I was leaning toward North Dakota, he said, 'Why would you want to go to a place like that? I coached there.' " Berenson said.

Berenson knew U-M was a great academic school, and there was an added bonus of being close to Detroit, where he could watch Gordie Howe play for the Red Wings. "Can't get any better than that if you're a kid from Saskatchewan," Berenson said.

It was Renfrew who got Berenson talking to Don Canham about returning to coach at Michigan when Berenson brought his son, Gordie, on a college visit from Buffalo, N.Y., to Ann Arbor.

Berenson said he always kept in contact with Renfrew during his playing career in the NHL.

"We would come back and spend a day or two here in Ann Arbor," Berenson said. "His wife, Marge, was terrific, was like a mother to us, my wife, Joy, and I."

Renfrew and his late wife are credited with creating what became the "M Go Blue" banner that football players touch when they come out of the tunnel before games at Michigan Stadium. Marge created banners that were first used in 1962.

Renfrew was the ticket manager at U-M after he retired from coaching. Berenson said he used to sit in Renfrew's office and talk about the problems he had early during his college coaching career.

"He was a great mentor for me," Berenson said. "He helped keep me going in the right direction as an inexperienced college coach."

Judy Hart, Renfrew's daughter, said her father loved Michigan.

"He lived five houses from the stadium," Hart said. "He had a tailgate every Saturday. He didn't make the last one because we were at the hospital. He wanted to make sure we still had it. That was important to him."

Hart said Renfrew suffered a heart attack three weeks ago. He had been in a rehab facility and was supposed to get out this week.

"I'm sure he had another heart attack," she said. "I was right there with him. It's tough."

Hart said Renfrew had his first heart attack in 1992, then others in 1996 and 2012.

Berenson said Renfrew had a great sense of humor. He recalled visiting him one time when his wife had a cast on her leg. Berenson asked if she could still drive.

"He said, 'Drive? She can't even putt.' He always came up with something," Berenson said.

Berenson helped Michigan return to being a national power in hockey and won NCAA titles in 1996 and 1998. That made Renfrew happy.

"He was the reason I came back, and he felt good that we finally got Michigan back on the map," Berenson said. "He was always in the background but always around. You feel like you've lost a little bit of your dad, not just a good friend."

Berenson said there are plans to honor Renfrew at Friday's U-M hockey game against American International at Yost Ice Arena.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

"I spent a lot of time with him during my time at Michigan," said Michigan Tech coach and former U-M assistant Mel Pearson. "He always had good things to say about Tech and really enjoyed his time as a coach here. He was so excited for me when I got the job and excited for the program."

Contact George Sipple:gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@georgesipple.

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