![]() The Danbury Trashers made waves in the UHL with a mix of scoring a pugilism. Footage showed fans overflowing the Danbury Ice Arena stands, and going absolutely bananas over every tussle and hit. comprised a team of players with an edge and a chip on their shoulder, many of whom threw as many punches in a game as they had shots on goal. What made the Trashers such a captivating subject, aside from all the illegal activity, was the undeniable entertainment value their story held. Clips from the documentary show his gruesome injuries during his time in Danbury, including one of his legs pointing in the wrong direction and part of his finger missing after another incident. Brad Wingfeld was another tough guy they brought in. There was Rumun “Nigerian Nightmare” Ndur, the former Sabres, Rangers and Thrashers heavyweight whose fights were always memorable. They would have the heat mysteriously go off in the opposing locker room or set the fire alarm off in the visitors’ hotel in the middle of the night.Īmong the players who the Trashers brought in included Jon Mirasty, a true hockey goon who had nearly 400 penalty minutes in his first year as a professional. Galante used money from elsewhere to fund much of his operation, which included pranks on visiting teams concocted by his son. The Trashers’ payroll was the highest in the league. Additionally, the hour-and-25-minute flick outlines the sketchy business that occurred within the organization, including paying players under the table and putting players’ wives on the garbage company’s payroll. The documentary describes the Trashers as the bad boys of hockey and shows how they terrorized the UHL, teams and league officials alike. said his love of hockey was reignited.Īt the end of August, the streaming service released “Untold: Crime and Penalties,” the ludicrous story of how a suspected mobster purchased an expansion minor league hockey team for $500,000 and put his teenage son in charge. Netflixīut when Netflix approached him to make a documentary on the Danbury Trashers, A.J. A hockey GM at age 17, AJ Galante now owns a boxing gym. owns Champ’s Boxing Club in downtown Danbury, where he’s worked with professional and amateur fighters for the past 6 ¹/₂ years. said he didn’t want to feel like he was running away. He still lives in Danbury despite several opportunities to leave, but A.J. turned to a career in boxing, which he said filled the void left by the Trashers. “It was tough because everywhere I would go, was all anybody wanted to talk to me about, ‘Oh, we wish the team was still here, when are you bringing them back?’ And it’s like, ‘Dude, we’re not bringing them back, it can’t happen.’ I had to deal with that on a weekly basis.”Ī.J. I stopped watching hockey, I stopped going to the game. “It’s not like it was hockey’s fault what happened, it was just like PTSD almost. “Especially right after the team, I didn’t want anything to do with hockey,” A.J., now 34, told The Post in a recent phone interview. His whole world revolved around it and suddenly it was gone. (approximately 55 miles northeast of New York City), were everything to A.J. On the other hand, the Trashers, which were based in his hometown of Danbury, Conn. was devastated for his dad, who ultimately went to prison for seven years. Just two years later, his father, also the head honcho of a garbage removal empire with suspected mafia ties, was indicted on several charges, which included defrauding the now defunct United Hockey League - prompting the disbandment of the team.įirst and foremost, A.J. Galante was 17 years old when his father, Jimmy, dubbed “the real-life Tony Soprano,” gifted him a minor league hockey team named the Danbury Trashers in 2004. This Day in New York Sports: Stéphane Matteau became a Rangers legendĪ.J. This Day in New York Sports: The Rangers win their fourth Stanley Cup This Day in NY Sports: Rangers draft Henrik Lundqvistīlackhawks hiring Canadiens assistant as new head coach
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