The Columbus Blue Jackets announced some coaching changes involving some familiar faces to Ohio hockey

The Columbus Blue Jackets finally announced the news that has been reported for several weeks: Trent Vogelhuber has been named an Assistant Coach on the staff of the club’s head coach Rick Bowness, finally joining the big league club after a successful head coaching career with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. In a corresponding move, longtime IHL, ECHL and AHL coach Nick Bootland has been named head coach of the club’s AHL affiliate. 

Vogelhuber, a Central Ohio native, former Blue Jackets draft pick and Lake Erie Monster himself, established himself as one of the premier up-and-coming coaching names in the North American ice hockey circuit after spending the past eight seasons on the staff of the Cleveland Monsters, four of which were in the head coaching spot. 

He established a winning record in both the regular season, 145-108-35 (.564 winning %), and the postseason, 17-12 (.586) and represented the AHL’s North Division as head coach of that division’s AHL All Stars in 2023-2024. He led the Monsters to Game 7 of the AHL’s Eastern Conference Finals in the Calder Cup Playoffs in 2024, where they lost to the eventual champions Hershey Bears. The Monsters have made the playoffs in three straight seasons under his eyes. 

I’ve seen more than a few of the Cleveland Monsters games over the past few seasons myself, and I’ve been extremely impressed with how poised and tactically sound the Monsters play hockey under his tutelage, and his sound tactical mind will be a more-than-welcome addition to the coaching staff in Columbus. Jackets fans should be very excited about getting him to the NHL at long last. 

Nick Bootland may not be a familiar name to Jackets fans that haven’t been around for a long time, or at least don’t keep a forensic eye at names in the minor leagues in North America, but for those that do, it is an intimately familiar name that carries a great deal of weight in our local hockey area. 

Bootland has spent the past twenty-eight years in Michigan, Ohio or Pennsylvania hockey circles as either a player or coach, and is extremely well respected in those circuits as an elite talent developer, highly-respected culture builder, and a proven winner. 

Bootland was a 9th round pick of the Dallas Stars in 1996, and while he never made it to the NHL, he spent ten years across several familiar teams in the Michigan-Ohio-Pennsylvania area as a player, with stops in Ohio with the Cleveland Barons, Cincinnati Cyclones and Columbus Stars. While Bootland was most recently with the Hershey Bears as an associate coach, he’s most notable for his time spent at the helm with the Kalamazoo Wings. 

From 2008 until 2022, Bootland was the Director of Hockey Operations and Head Coach of the now-ECHL-based Franchise where he boasted a record of 481-366-82 (.562 winning %), made the Kelly Cup finals once, and qualified for the playoffs nine times. 

Bootland is a name that is extremely well-connected in local hockey circles and is a superb addition to the development staff for the Blue Jackets. Columbus and Cleveland hockey fans should be ecstatic at his addition to the staff for the franchise.

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