Mike Collingridge writes... >John H writes... > >> Well, I'm not the definitive truth, but I believe the correct story is that >> Coach Berenson was the first to go *directly* from college to the pros. He >> played for Michigan and the Montreal Canadiens in the span of about 24 hours >> (1962?). > >Yep. That's how I have heard it. The day following his final game as a >Wolverine, Red boarded a train to Boston and played for the Canadiens >that night. I believe this would have been in 1963 (his's senior year >was 1962-63). Red's senior year was 1961-62. After the Michigan season ended, he played a total of 9 regular-season and playoff games with Montreal. As a hockey card collector, the year is always hard to remember because Red's rookie cards are in the 1963-64 Parkhurst set (which can lead one to think that 1962-63 was his first action in the NHL), but he did appear on a 1962-63 Shirrif coin with his 1961-62 stats. :-) Who needs almanacs and encyclopedias when there are hockey cards! :-) John H U Mich