St. Louis Blues: Red Berenson’s Six-Goal Game 50 Years On

St. Louis Blues great Red Berenson celebrated the 50th anniversary of his six-goal game against, at the time arch-rival, Philadelphia Flyers.

I was fortunate enough to meet Red Berenson a former St. Louis Blues captain and legend this summer.  Not only did I get the chance to meet him, but I also had the good fortune to skate against him in a game, more on that later.

To put the Red’s six-goal accomplishment into perspective;  he is only one of three players to achieve this feat since the NHL’s inception in 1926.  To put his game into further rarified air, he is the only player have done it in a road game.   You would expect the other two players to be from hockey royalty like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull, Bobby Orr, or Gordie Howe.  One was a Howe, but it was Syd Howe, no relation, in 1948 for Detroit and Darryl Sittler in1976 for Toronto.  Syd has a St. Louis tie as he played for the short-lived St. Louis Eagles for their one season,1934-35.

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Even with a stat line of ten shots, one assist, six goals, and a plus-seven ranking for the game, he does not consider it one of his best games.  One thing that surprised me more was that even 50 years on he could still describe each goal in detail.  His mind as sharp now at 78, almost 79, as it was then.

During the evening I got to meet Red and talk with him there were several other former Blues in attendance.  Bruce Affleck was recounting a story from his rookie season with the Blues when he was behaving in a little over-exuberant manner at a Montreal drinking establishment.  He said that his eyes met Red’s and that they stared back with a laser focus and Red Berenson said: “This is not the time or place.”  That was all that was needed to curtail the rowdiness by Bruce and his fellow partners in crime.

It was said that Red had that same laser focus in eyes when he was the on the ice.  I can personally attest to this fact.  He was playing left wing in the game, and I was on right defense.  He came down said wing stared right through me with those laser eyes on the way to the net to score.  I thought I was prepared the second time but so was he.  Needless to say, he did it again.

Seeing Red skate at 78 is impressive and makes you wonder what it would have been like to have seen it live and in person when he was in his prime.  In talking with him, I asked him how keeps his skills so sharp and stays in such shape.  He casually replied that he still gets out and skates with the University of Michigan men’s team.  How intimating that must be to have the greatest coach in school and collegiate hockey history out on the ice with you and challenging you in skill.

Although Red has retired from coaching now and has been inducted into just about every hockey hall of fame at any level, his competitive fires still burn bright.  His mind is a sharp as a skate blade and is still a no-nonsense type of person on and off the ice.  It was also amazing to think that when he joined the NHL, there were only six teams.  By the way, my team managed to pull out a win against Red and the other Blues Alumni, none of them were happy about that.