Ohio Hockey Milestones and Trent Vogelhuber Go Together Like Peanut Butter and Jelly
Photo Credit: Cleveland Monsters
Graphic Credit: Graced By Rain
As a toddler, Cleveland Monsters Head Coach Trent Vogelhuber fell in love with hockey watching the Kent State University hockey team practice while his sister was figure skating at the next rink over. As he grew older, his love of hockey led Vogelhuber to be part of many historical hockey moments in Ohio.
Early in Vogelhuber’s high school career, he and his parents took a leap of faith and joined a brand new travel hockey team run by Ed Gingher based out of Dayton, Ohio. This team is now known as the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets. Now, based out of Columbus, Ohio, the AAA Blue Jackets have over 30 alumni who have gone on to play at the professional level and over 150 alumni at the collegiate level.
To bring things full circle, Vogelhuber has coached five AAA Blue Jackets alumni (Carson Meyer, Kole Sherwood, Connor McDonald, Justin Richards, and Cole Cassels ) as either an Assistant Coach or Head Coach for the Monsters.
After high school, he became the first player from Columbus to be drafted by an NHL team when his hometown team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, selected him with the final pick of the 2007 NHL entry draft.
The historical hockey moments didn’t stop there.
While playing for Miami University from 2008-2012, Vogelhuber and his teammates led the team to back-to-back appearances in the Frozen Four tournament (2009, 2010) and were runner’s up in the tournament in 2009. Both were the first and last time Miami University was able to reach those milestones.
The sweetest historical hockey moments came on a perfect night in June 2016 when Vogelhuber helped break the Cleveland Curse bringing a professional sports championship back to Cleveland with a Calder Cup win over the Hershey Bears.
As you can see, the state of Ohio and the sport of hockey fell in love with Vogelhuber, too. So, it's only fitting he secured his 100th win as an AHL Head Coach while coaching the Cleveland Monsters in front of 12,333 fans at Rocket Arena in downtown Cleveland.
Like always, Vogelhuber found a way to deflect from the attention being on him after his 100th win on February 28, 2025. “I had no idea until after the game,” said Voglehuber. “It’s the furthest thing from my mind right now.”
What is on Vogelhuber’s mind right now?
He’s constantly thinking about the morale of a team that has been in a slump for a little over a month. “The result isn’t what matters. It’s about how you’re playing,” said Vogelhuber. “But, sometimes, when you do get one, it helps you mentally and it helps you play a little bit more free with a little bit more confidence.”
Being able to pair the human aspect of the players with the business aspect of the sport makes Vogelhuber respected by both players and front-office staff.
For Captain Stefan Matteau, it was “cool” to watch Vogelhuber secure his 100th win as a Head Coach. “I was here his first official year of coaching. Now, I get to see him as Head Coach and growing into it,” said Matteau. “As a young head coach, he’s done a great job.” Matteau expanded upon what he’s seen from Vogelhuber saying, “Last year with the success we had, it was awesome to see him behind the bench. And then this year managing the ups and downs of the season, he’s done a great job.”
Matteau finished his availability with the media after Vogelhuber’s 100th win with a sentiment that is echoed by many, “Hopefully 100 more but not too many more than that, because hopefully, he gets a chance at the next level one day.”
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Quick Stats:
It took Vogelhuber 196 games to get to 100 wins
65 games were won in regulation (32 home, 32 away)
23 games had to be settled in overtime (11 home, 12 away)
12 games were decided in a shootout (six home, six away)
408 goals were scored by the Monster (197 home, 211 away)
218 goals were scored against the Monsters (105 home, 113 away)
