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 accomplishments.

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 trouble,” 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 intermission. 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, respectively.

“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 defenseman 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 performance for Team USA in the World Junior Championships. 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 Michigan’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 in the net.”

The Golden Gophers seemed to answer nearly every time Michigan found twine, but forward Connor Reilly’s goal in the closing minute of the second period seemed to be the final threat. Forward A.J. Michaelson scored from the slot with under three minutes remaining, but neither his nor Reilly’s tally was enough to overcome the Wolverines’ well-cushioned lead.

“It’s tough to win up in Minneapolis, so holding serve here at Yost is really important for us,” Copp said. “You know, and in Pairwise (rankings) and NCAA implications, I don’t know where we’re at but we’re right on the borderline now, and if we keep playing the way we’re playing, we’ll find ourselves in the tournament.”

Earlier in the week, Berenson said he wouldn’t celebrate his 800th victory, but a sweep of Minnesota is enough to make even the most stoic of coaches crack a smile.

“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,” Berenson said after Wednesday’s practice. “I mean, I was glad. To me, the best part of the GLI is in the locker room for the two or three minutes after the game where everyone can sit there and say, ‘Wow this is great.’

“They’re sweaty, they’re sore, they hurt, they’re tired and they’re happy and they’re fulfilled.”

Exactly 800 times now, Berenson has felt that satisfaction from walking into a locker room and standing over a sweaty, sore, hurt, tired and happy bunch of Wolverines. He won’t admit Saturday’s victory is sweeter than another, but this is one of many that will be etched into the record books.