Blue Jackets promote Dublin’s Vogelhuber to Monsters head coach
Former Blue Jackets prospect and member of the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets Trent Vogelhuber, 33, has been promoted to head coach of the Cleveland Monsters. He takes over the American Hockey League team from Mike Eaves, whose final season in Cleveland was a struggle because of health issues.
“He’s young, but he’s had four years of experience and basically a full year of head-coaching experience because he had the reins for a majority of the (this season),” said Chris Clark, Monsters general manager and Blue Jackets director of player personnel. “We all thought he did a very good job.”
Clark’s first glimpse into Vogelhuber’s coaching acumen occurred when both were players with the Jackets’ former AHL affiliate in Springfield, Massachusetts.
“You’re thinking in your head, ‘This guy’s going to be a coach someday when his career’s over,’ ” said Clark.
That day arrived in 2018 when Vogelhuber became a Monsters assistant.
Vogelhuber, who’s from Dublin, has rattled off a string of firsts for the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets. He was the program’s first player to be drafted by an NHL team (Blue Jackets, seventh round, 2007), first to play collegiately at the NCAA Division-i level (Miami of Ohio), first to play professionally and first to become a pro coach.
Now he’s the first to become a head coach at the professional level.
“He’s the godfather,” said Ed Gingher, Ohio AAA Blue Jackets president and Vogelhuber’s former coach with the program. “He’s the guy that everybody looks up to. He’s a driver of a culture that we’ve tried to build here, and he’s a big part of setting that foundation of success for us. It’s really cool to see.”
After his AAA career, Vogelhuber played junior hockey in the North American Hockey League with the St. Louis Bandits and in the United States Hockey League with the Des Moines Buccaneers.
Then he skated collegiately for the Miami Redhawks from 2008-12. A sixyear pro stint in the minor leagues followed, including an AHL Calder Cup championship with the Monsters in 2016, before multiple injury setbacks convinced Vogelhuber to pick up a whistle.
Vogelhuber never made it to the NHL as a player, slowed by numerous injury setbacks, but he’s now on a career arc that could take him to that level as a coach. bhedger@dispatch.com @Brianhedger