Last Tuesday marked a return to a familiar script for Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson, who signed a one-year contract extension through next season. Now in his 25th year as head coach, Berenson worked under rolling, one-season contracts from his first year until 2006, when his current three-year deal began.

But the short-term extension won't mitigate all possible concerns on the recruiting trail.

In the past five years, questions about Berenson’s eventual retirement have increased. Berenson, 69, says it comes up in every conversation with a recruit’s parents. And he openly admits to players he may not be coaching when they graduate.

Hockey recruits are often courted when they are as young as 15 years old, which heightens the attention regarding Berenson’s uncertain future. And it also serves as a weapon for other teams – both inside and outside the CCHA – to discourage parents from sending their son to Michigan.

“I’ve got a kid in this year, and he said it’s definitely out there,” assistant coach Mel Pearson said. “They ask, ‘You don’t even know how long the Michigan coach is going to be there, so why would you consider that school?’ … We hear a lot that Red’s not involved in the recruiting at all, but that’s false. We hear that Red’s going to retire next year. I think that’s a yearly thing.”

Berenson suggested last week that opposing coaches have used his age against him and have told some recruits he doesn’t even go on the ice during practices.

Sophomore forward Aaron Palushaj said other CCHA coaches emphasized Berenson’s contract status to discourage him during his recruitment, but they never resorted to inappropriate scare tactics.

Word-of-mouth also plays a role in negative recruiting. Freshman defenseman Brandon Burlon said recruits from other schools warned him that Berenson doesn’t give freshmen playing time. But with the exception of now-sophomore goaltenders Bryan Hogan and Shawn Hunwick, every member of this year’s roster appeared in at least 23 games as a freshman.

Recruiting battles extend beyond the realm of the NCAA. Morals are sometimes compromised when the Canadian Hockey League becomes involved in courting teenage athletes. The CHL consists of three major junior leagues, most notably the Ontario Hockey League, all for players ages 16 to 20.

The junior leagues are in direct competition with NCAA schools for players. Burlon suggested they can often resort to disparaging the level of play in the college game and try to persuade parents there’s only one clear path to the National Hockey League.

Before entering college, American players often play in the United States Hockey League, in some cases until they are 20 years old, to gain experience against top competition. CHL representatives sometimes try to convince players that American junior leagues aren't as effective in developing athletes, especially those older than 18.

“That’s their selling point,” Burlon said. “ ‘The OHL – you come in early, you develop earlier.’ … Obviously, they want you, and they use the card that you’re going to have to play two years of juniors, which isn’t the same caliber of the OHL most times before you go to college.”

Berenson is openly critical of the CHL’s relaxed standards of decency. He recalled when former Wolverine Jack Johnson (2005-07), now with the Los Angeles Kings, was 15 years old. A CHL representative approached Johnson at 7 a.m. at the golf course he was working at to talk about his future on the ice.

The major junior leagues don’t always leave players alone after they’ve arrived on campus, either. Representatives have sometimes targeted active Wolverines with poor grades to persuade them to leave school.

“It’s relentless,” Berenson said. “We need informed parents, and we need parents that we can trust. It’s usually the parents who give into the pressure. The kid, he doesn’t know. The parents are guiding him.”

The coaching staff maintains their recruiting classes have been mostly unscathed by other teams’ recruiting tactics. In the past five seasons, 20 of 36 Wolverine freshmen entered college already selected in the NHL Draft.

“If a kid has an interest in Michigan, and we really like them, things end fast,” assistant coach Billy Powers said. “As soon as you get them in, you take them.”