Blue Jackets tap local pipeline again, promote Vogelhuber to Monsters' head coach

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Blue Jackets tap local pipeline again, promote Vogelhuber to Monsters' head coach

Trent Vogelhuber, 33, has been promoted from assistant to head coach of the Cleveland Monsters, the Blue Jackets' affiliate in the American Hockey League. Vogelhuber is from Dublin and played for both the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets and Miami of Ohio before embarking on a six-year professional career spent primarily in the AHL.

Brian Hedger, The Columbus Dispatch · The Columbus Dispatch

Thu, Jun 9, 2022 ·

8 min read

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The term "homegrown" is growing on the Blue Jackets.

After four former Ohio AAA Blue Jackets have gotten a chance to play for the NHL team they grew up cheering, including three current Blue Jackets forwards, another alum of the developmental program reached a new milestone Wednesday.

Trent Vogelhuber, 33, was promoted to the role of head coach of the Cleveland Monsters in the American Hockey League, taking over the bench from coach Mike Eaves — whose final season in Cleveland was a struggle because of health issues.

"The Blue Jackets have been a part of my life now for 15 years, since I got drafted in 2007, but long before that I was a big fan, from when they played their first game," said Vogelhuber, who was drafted by Columbus in 2007 (seventh round) and eventually helped Monsters win the AHL's Calder Cup championship in 2016 as a forward. "When you're a professional in pro hockey, you're never going to not try your best, whether you're playing or coaching, but when I'm involved with the Blue Jackets, the team that I really want to win, whether I'm involved or not, it's very special. It's obviously a great opportunity for me, personally, but I wouldn't want to be involved with any other group right now."

Former Blue Jackets forward Trent Vogelhuber, seen here in a 2014 preseason game, has been named head coach of the Monsters. — Sep 21, 2014; Raleigh, NC, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets forward Trent Vogelhuber (76) centers the puck in front of the Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward (30) during the 1st period at PNC Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

The feeling is mutual.

"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 past season)," said Chris Clark, Monsters general manager and the 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 the Monsters' new head coach was a player with the Springfield Falcons, the Jackets' former AHL affiliate in Springfield, Mass.

"You're thinking in your head, 'This guy's going to be a coach someday when his career's over,'" said Clark, an 11-year NHL veteran who was the Washington Capitals' captain and played the final two years of his career in Columbus. "He had the trust of the coaches as a player. You could play him in any situation. He was the type of guy who when you told him one thing, he'd understand and then go out and do it. He knew that side of the game and asked the right questions when he was a player. So, it was just one of those things that, at that point, you just knew he would be a good coach someday."

Clockwise from top left, Columbus Blue Jackets director of player personnel and Cleveland Monsters general manager Chris Clark, assistant general manager Basil McRae, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and assistant meneral manager Josh Flynn watch training camp at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021.

That day arrived in 2018, when Vogelhuber took a job offer from former Blue Jackets associate GM Bill Zito to become a Monsters assistant. Clark, who became the Monsters' GM after Zito became the Florida Panthers' GM in 2020, said Vogelhuber proved his coaching chops right away.

The player-turned-coach ran the team's power play drills at his first practice like he'd been coaching for decades and quickly earned respect in the new role. Vogelhuber had a similar experience last fall at the NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Mich., where he, former Blue Jackets center Mark Letestu and former Blue Jackets forward Derek Dorsett ran the team's bench after Eaves incurred a shoulder injury that required surgery a day before the tournament.

The Blue Jackets went undefeated in four games, led by forwards Cole Sillinger and Yegor Chinakhov.

"I had 24-hours notice before I was running the first practice and then we were hopping on a plane," Vogelhuber said. "Luckily, I was ready. I'd been there for three years, coaching, at that point. I'd learned a lot, so I was ready and excited for that opportunity. 'Testy' and 'Dorse' filled in on the bench too, and I'd known both of those guys for quite some time before that, so it was good. Not a whole lot of preparation or time to prepare, but we rolled with it and I felt like we did a pretty good job."

Clark did too.

"It was definitely a small sample size, but he did great and he only had a couple days' notice," Clark said. "He was in charge of the team and he was in charge of the whole group in Traverse City. It's one of those things where you need to be prepared for your opportunities, just like when you're a player. He's been preparing these last few years for a chance to move up the coaching ranks. It doesn't usually happen this way, but he was ready for it and prepared."

Cole Sillinger was on the ice with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first day of training camp at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Friday, September 23, 2021. Sillinger was drafted by the Blue Jackets with the No. 12 pick in the first round of the 2021 NHL draft. — Cole Sillinger sat out scrimmages Friday and Saturday.

Vogelhuber was born in Cleveland and lives there now, but he was raised in Dublin and 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, first to play collegiately at the NCAA Division-I level for 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. All of our guys have relationships with him, whether it's through Miami or through the AAA program or through the 'CBJ.' All of the guys that have come after him, he has relationships with them and they all look up to him. 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."

Columbus Blue Jackets center Jack Roslovic (96) skates back up ice after a missed shot during the first period of the NHL hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Feb. 22, 2022. — Blue Jackets tap local pipeline again, promote Vogelhuber to Monsters' head coach
(the-columbus-dispatch)

Following his AAA career, Vogelhuber played a season of junior hockey in the North American Hockey League with the St. Louis Bandits, where he was recruited by then-Bandits coach Jon Cooper — now head coach of the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

He played a second year of junior with the Des Moines Buccaneers in the United States Hockey League before a four-year stint at Miami (2008-12). A six-year pro career in the minors followed, including the Calder Cup run with the Monsters in 2016, alongside current Blue Jackets like Zach Werenski, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Joonas Korpisalo and others.

Vogelhuber's age, status as a new dad and multiple knee injuries are ultimately what convinced him to pick up a whistle when Zito and Clark made the offer. The Monsters' location in Cleveland, two hours from Columbus, was another big attraction.

Looking back, the path Vogelhuber carved for players who followed him with the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets was unmistakable.

Six of the program's alums have followed his lead and then surpassed it by making it all the way to the NHL, including current Blue Jackets forwards Sean Kuraly , Jack Roslovic and Carson Meyer . The other three are defenseman Connor Murphy (Chicago Blackhawks), Kiefer Sherwood (Colorado Avalanche/Colorado Eagles) and Kole Sherwood (Nashville Predators/Milwaukee Admirals).

Kuraly, Roslovic, and Kiefer Sherwood all spent their collegiate careers at Miami, while Meyer started there before transferring to Ohio State for his final two years.

Murphy and Kole Sherwood went the major junior route in the Ontario Hockey League. Sherwood signed with the Blue Jackets as a undrafted free agent and eventually preceded Roslovic, Kuraly and Meyer in playing for the hometown NHL team.

Sherwood made his NHL debut in 2018-19 for the Blue Jackets , becoming the first local player to play for Columbus.

Columbus Blue Jackets center Sean Kuraly (7) celebrates a goal by defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov (44) during the second period of the NHL preseason hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021. — Blue Jackets tap local pipeline again, promote Vogelhuber to Monsters' head coach
(the-columbus-dispatch)

Justin Richards, son of former Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards, is also an Ohio AAA Blue Jackets alum who played collegiately for Minnesota-Duluth and is now in the AHL (Hartford). Richards made his NHL debut in 2021 by playing one game for the New York Rangers. All came through after Vogelhuber, who still maintains close ties with Gingher and other Ohio AAA Blue Jackets alums.

"Ed Gingher built that program from the ground up and gave me and everybody after me opportunities to get to the highest level, and it's obviously worked," Vogelhuber said. "His blueprint for running as good of a youth hockey program or AAA hockey program as there is in the country is clearly working. There's going to be a lot more players coming from where we came from, as far as making it to the D-I level and to the professional ranks."

Vogelhuber never made it to the NHL as a player, slowed by numerous injury setbacks, but he's on a career arc that could take him to that level as a coach someday. He's not planning for that just yet, but others are starting to peer down the road a bit.

"We're pumped for him and we're proud of him," said Gingher, who noted that Vogelhuber coached Meyer and another Ohio AAA Blue Jackets alum, Cole Cassels, this past season. "He never got to the NHL as a player, but he's on a path now to get to the NHL as a coach. I know if he does the job he's capable of doing there, those opportunities will be there for him, which is pretty cool."

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets promote Dublin's Trent Vogelhuber to Monsters head coach

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