The Galantes admit that their favorite player was Brad Wingfield, a.k.a. In the mid-to-late 1970s, he started his own company, Automated Waste Disposal, and by 2004, hed built it into a trash-collection empire of companies valued at about $100 million. I suspended his son." "When we got him," A.J. His job was to be the Kevin Costner to Brent Gretzkys Whitney Houston. When father and son get together, they talk family, business, the future. But for many, the highlight had come earlier in the season, when Wingnut got his revenge. The winning goal came in the third overtime. The judge let Galante remain out of prison pending trial but put him under house arrest. You in? The UHL had a salary cap that limited teams to a total of approximately $275,000 for the whole roster. Marc also has over 20 years in Nutritional Counseling as Clinical Nutritionist. According to the indictment, Galante was making quarterly payments of $30,000 to Matty the Horse, the successor to Vincent the Chin Gigante and the boss of the Genovese crime family. Federal authorities had grown interested in the Connecticut waste-management industry. He also played one season for the Russia Omsk of the KHL. Jon (Nasty) Mirasty averaged more than eight minutes of penalties over 25 games. Barely 50 games into the season Stirling, the coach, was suspended for three games for failing to control his players. We play a team like the Frostbite, a team with maybe two goons. In this way, they happened across, in addition to all sorts of other malfeasance, evidence of those no-show jobs, which ultimately resulted in additional charges against Galante. We still got eight goons.. He would also wash the Trashers' jerseys in Crisco and slather Vaseline on their helmets so opponents couldn't grab hold in a fight. Brenda St. Clair can serve as an inspiration to goaltenders and all hockey fans throughout the world. Josh Elzinga vs. Brad Wingfield, December 03, 2005 - Kalamazoo Wings vs. Danbury Trashers. So in 2004 Galante sank his money into the hockey equivalent of Double A ball. Through hockey, Brenda has served as an inspiration for others, from children learning the sport to those like 25-year-old Eric Vogel, a fellow goalie drafted by the expansion Southwestern Pennsylvania Magic of the Federal League in June. I never had one bad thing happen in my dealings with Jimmy Galante.". Playing against the Trashers was "a s--- show," said Chris Chaput, who was a center for the Elmira Jackals in 2005--06. ", A.J. With a Premium subscription, you'll get access to over 30 tools, features and benefits. Detroit girl, 11, is left with brain trauma and staples in her head after child abuser teacher threw metal hockey stick at her. From November 2019: My family story of love, the Mob, and government surveillance. But as Wingfield skated away , Elzinga stuck his leg out and pulled back on the left wing's jersey. The rowdiest spectators were cordoned off in Section 102, directly behind the visitors bench. Investigators alleged that by paying a quarterly $30,000 "mob tax" to Matthew (Matty the Horse) Ianniellothen the highest-ranking member of New York City's Genovese crime familyGalante's companies had muscled out potential competitors and charged counties and businesses inflated carting rates. When asked whether they knew anything about the other side of Galantes life, most said something along the lines of Not exactly, but we did know we were well taken care of. Jimmy Galante was arrested on June 9, 2006, not long after the final game of the season. He had once set a record in the West Coast Hockey League with 503 penalty minutes in a single season. I first heard it from a father on the sidelines of a Little League game soon after I moved in. The New York Times described him as a Danbury trash hauler suspected of mob ties who had a story right out of The Sopranos., From December 2019: Scorseses elegy for the American gangster. Galantes payments were characterized as a mob tax to ensure his companies primacy in the trash trade. During a 1994 junior hockey game he was on a breakaway when he caught a high stick under his visor. A legion of small business owners still talk about how, on Trashers game nights, downtown blazed to life. He almost looked like Waynethe same intelligent eyes and long face, the same scraggly mall-rat hairbut not quite. The players were aware that their owner was, well, connected. Some say he did it for the same reason he owned a race-car squad: He loved to compete. Skokie Hockey is pleased to announce that Adam Elzinga will join the 2016-17 coaching staff as the Head Coach of our 2007 team (Squirt 2). 117 followers. Featured in the NETFLIX documentary Untold: Crime & Penalties, the story of the Danbury Trashers relives the short and tumultuous history of an old United Ho. It was a different day of hockey., Life for the Trashers was life on the road, going from small city to small city. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. HOCKEY IS BACK!!!. December 03, 2005. The Trashers had the Adirondack Frostbite. So while Greg, 49, can walk, his wife is paralyzed, relying on a motorized wheelchair to move around. After a life-threatening hockey injury suffered at 18 years of age with a prognosis that he may never be able to play the game again, his passion for hockey and his desire to succeed expectations fueled his rehabilitation and lead him to become an all-rounded athlete who has . Hockey Fights is an entertainment site with no direct affiliation to the National Hockey League, its teams, or NHLPA. He made some contacts, hung out in gyms in the Northeast, met some promoters and trainers, and so far he has represented three fighters. After the game they'd come back and greet the players. When Danbury became the home of the Eastern Professional Leagues Mad Hatters in 2008, the St. Clairs quickly welcomed them. Hed been named with several others, including Trashers Coach J. Todd Stirling, who pleaded guilty to taking part in the salary-cap fraud. He had me arrested in the locker room. VS. 1st Period - 12:37. The jerseys featured the team mascot, Scrappy, a garbage can with the lid raised just enough to reveal two almond-shaped eyes peering from the darkness. Its all Ive known for my whole life, she said. It was a violent league made of players on the way up, players on the way down, and some players simply holding on, happy to live in the limbo of the minor leagues. also hired Tommy (T-Bone) Pomposello, a former minor leaguer, who would do everything from managing the equipment to scouting talent to helping run practice. 2023 ABG-SI LLC. Marc was a professional Triathlete for over 10 years. He knows how to treat people. 355 following. A UHL season was about 80 games followed by playoffs; the champion took home the Colonial Cup. persisted. During a pretrial hearing assistant U.S. attorney Michael Gustafson characterized Galante as a "manipulating, controlling, hands-on bully." Originally from Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, Gilles Richard is the current Vice-President of Hockey Operations for Southeast Elite Hockey. First year, he was playing for the Port Huron Beacons, killing us. The cornerstone of Marc's approach is focusing on making each hockey player a better athlete. Though he scored on the play, he lost sight in his left eye. To the delight of the Danbury press and public, they also brought exciting hockey action and stars such as Brent Gretzky (playing and signing autographs), kid brother of you-know-who. Before a big game a team employee might check into the visitors' hotel and pull the fire alarm. The result was a kind of frontier justice. He was one of those players who had everything except whatever mysterious quality it is that separates Wayne from Brent, the Yes from the Not Quite. He was just back from that broken leg when the Wings came to Danbury. After he was released on $1 million bond, he was asked whether he had any comment. "Especially for a guy with one eye. But Jimmy Galante was smart, and the G-men could never quite nail him. Josh Elzinga Defense Born Sep 3 1984 -- Burbank, IL [38 yrs. made connections over the summer with agents, scouts and middlemen who could deliver that goalie from Manitoba or that playmaker from Quebec. Following a successful junior hockey career, he played four (4) years of college hockey at Eastern Michigan University, where he was a CSCHL All-Star in 2001. Still, it was clear who had the ultimate authority: Before and after some games Jimmy gave the team fiery pep talks and blistering critiques. Team Information. At 4 a.m. the players would be out in the parking lot, huddled in their underwear. He was a star in the UHL, having scored 43 goals for the Port Huron Beacons the previous season. The team played in the Wings Stadium. "YOU'D HAVE BLUE-COLLAR GUYS NEXT TO WEALTHY REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS. As evidence that Galante was prone to violence, the prosecution played footage of him purportedly striking the official during the infamous Kalamazoo game. "Of course, if we had to do it again, would we have accepted that franchise? [The attitude was,] You're supposed to be courteous in minor league hockey? And the fans, from section 102 and beyond, still miss their team. As he headed to baggage claim at the small suburban airport, something didn't look right. The teenage sports exec became an irresistible media story. Questioned about the no-show jobs, former players laughed and changed the subject. He caught Josh Elzinga in a corner, called him out, beat him down. It was one of those things where wed say, Hit this guy. But no one could catch him. Theres nothing sadder than a small city. Needless to say it was gobbled right up.The documentary has taken the hockey and sports worlds by storm. "The Danbury Trashers were the Syracuse Bulldogs of the movie Slap Shot," says Pomposello, the all-purpose assistant. The week that followed Martin Luther King Jr.s assassination was revolutionaryso why was it nearly forgotten? Stevealso served as Coaching and Program Director for the NJ Devils Youth Hockey Club before becoming the Program Director for the Florida Golden Wolves, where he has served for the past 11 years. What does that mean? He paid the funeral costs of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq and donated $200,000 to a nonprofit that provided financial assistance to soldiers serving overseas. The documentary does a great job capturing on the emotional story of Wingfield and his strong relationship with both A.J. The league set an annual salary cap of $275,000, with a $2 luxury tax for every dollar spent above the threshold. The former Director of Hockey Operations for the Jacksonville Ice and Sports Complex, Gilles is no stranger to youth hockey. Marc uses a basis of skating and skills rather than hockey concepts oversystems through proper small area games. But in other corners the Galantesand the desperadoes on ice they brought to townare still recalled fondly. AJ called it a coincidence: Changes in the league made continued play impossible, he said, not the legal problem. Of course, his dads arrest played a role. ", The Galantes put the rowdiest boosters behind the opposing bench. Wingfield broke his leg in several places during a Dec. 1 game at the Danbury Ice Arena against Kalamazoo when he was tripped by the Wings' Josh Elzinga in the final seconds of the second. In the spring of 2003, while playing for the New Jersey Devils, Rupp had scored a game-winning goal in the Stanley Cup finals. It's possible Wylie could return on a one-year deal that is a significant raise from the $2.38 million he earned last season. Typical New York Rangers or New York Islanders fans were in the position of heroin addicts whod lost their supplywhich is how they found their way to the Trashers. For all that's happened, the kid still idolizes his father. Jason Chen explains the effect in depth before New Jersey plays Wednesday. Winger Frank (the Animal) Bialowas, a former runner-up for Mr. Manitoba, was not much for impulse control either. A.J. "We did our due diligence, and they put in the proper paperwork and were professional," says Richard Brosal, then the UHL's commissioner. "After games you'd have these blue-collar guys next to wealthy real estate developers. Craig resides in Estero, Florida with his wife Amy, son Cayden (9), who plays for the Junior Everblades 10U teamand daughter Sophia (12), who currently plays for the Girls Florida Alliance 12U AAA team. When it came time to negotiate Gretzkys contract, AJ turned the deal over to his father. Seven players were sent to the penalty box. While David-Alexandre Beauregard was no goon, he fit into the Danbury menagerie. He did have a weakness, though. "It comes right from the top.". SHOWTIME The Trashers didn't just start fights. The Trashers' marquee player was Brent Gretzky, Wayne's kid brother. During that time he has played for the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburg Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Tampa Bay Lightning. [40 yrs. Join Facebook to connect with Josh Elzinga and others you may know. Two months into the season, the games turned nasty.

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