From 1984-1988, Red Berenson was in his first four seasons of being Michigan's coach; he mustered just 61 wins over that period.

From 1984-1988, Scott Paluch was a defenseman at Bowling Green who never saw his team finish lower than fourth, who took home All-America honors his senior year and who helped win one regular season and one postseason conference title.

Things have changed since Paluch graduated.

Now Berenson is 14th on the NCAA all-time coaching win list with 481 career victories, and his Wolverines have brought home two national titles, with eight Frozen Four appearances since 1988.

Paluch now enters his first year as the Falcons' coach and looks to revive a program that has not finished higher than fifth in the CCHA since 1996 and has not been in the conference title game since Paluch's senior year.

The experienced coach and the newcomer will meet for the first time tonight when Michigan (2-0-0 CCHA, 5-1-0 overall) plays at Bowling Green (0-6-0, 2-7-0).

"I can barely remember what it was like, but it was tougher for me because I was new to college hockey, period," Berenson said. "The advantage that Scott Paluch has is that he has not only been around college hockey for a long time, but he was around Bowling Green for a long time. He knows that environment there, and he knows what it should be like when they're successful."

On Sept. 26, Paluch took the ice with his team for the first time, and although the Falcons lack the experience a new coach might desire - just two seniors and six juniors - he is happy to be back with Bowling Green.

"It's tremendously exciting to come back," Paluch said. "I think anyone in athletics, coaches especially - you go through school as a player, you love the experience and you get in the profession of coaching and you just hope that one day you can be back to help out your alma mater. "

Paluch was an assistant coach at Bowling Green from 1992-1994 under his former coach, Jerry York. After the 1993-94 season, York went to Boston College and Paluch followed him there to be the Eagles' associate head coach. After four straight Frozen Four appearances from 1997-2001 with Boston College, including a national title in 2001, Paluch feels confident that he can get the Falcons back into the national spotlight.

"When I played, we were fortunate to have a very solid base to always compete for first or second in the CCHA," Paluch said. "That's the expectation we want to get this program back to. The players that are there now understand that. They want to get back to that point where we can be a factor in the league."

Even though Bowling Green is relying on a small group of veterans to carry the team, the fact the Falcons are building around their youth already has caught the attention of some opposing teams.

"Regardless of his team right now, I understand he likes some of the younger players there and they feel like they're going in the right direction," Berenson said.