WTF, is this some sort of joke?
On April 1, 2004, James Galante, a prominent Danbury, Connecticut garbage disposal businessman, founded the Danbury Trashers as a new expansion team in the United Hockey League (UHL). He paid a $500,000 franchise fee to the league and named his son A.J. as the president and General Manager of the new team. A.J. was only 17 years old at the time, and some people around the league thought it was an April Fools’ Day joke (years later, even A.J. revealed he thought it was a joke). However, Galante saw the potential for hockey in Danbury after witnessing the enthusiastic crowds at his son’s high school hockey games, and wanted to give his son, an avid hockey fan, something special.
The Trashers were named after Galante’s main business, and A.J.’s friends designed the team logo. Initially, the Trashers were set to play in the Danbury Ice Arena, which only had a 750-seat capacity. However, as part of the franchising agreement, the arena needed to be expanded to accommodate more fans. Galante invested an additional $1.5 million to renovate the arena, increasing its capacity to 3,000 seats. During this time, A.J. attended Manhattanville College while also managing the team’s operations.
The Danbury Trashers begin earning their name
During their first season, the Trashers played around .500 hockey but went on a seven-game unbeaten streak a quarter of the way through the 2004-05 season, which moved them into first place in the Eastern Division. This streak was part of nine consecutive games without a regulation loss, which led to the Trashers being in a tie for first place in the league. Something interesting emerged. During the winning streak, two brawls took place on the ice.
In one game against the Kalamazoo Wings, Wingfield attempted to instigate a fight after an altercation with a Wings player, resulting in a brawl. Another brawl occurred months later in a game versus the Adirondack Frostbite. The Trashers found success after both brawls, going 8-2-0 and 8-3-0 in their next 10 and 11 games, respectively.
Soon brawls became commonplace – and violent. In a game against the Kalamazoo Wings, an opposing player, Josh Elzinga, tried to start a fight with Trasher player Brad Wingfield. Wingfield refused to fight but as he skated away, Elzinga stuck out his leg and yanked his jersey. Wingfield’s skate caught and the fall broke his left tibia just above the ankle. The break, loud enough to be heard in the stands, was followed by Wingfield’s louder screams. Dan Hickling of The Minor League News called it “the most gruesome sight” he’d seen in 35 years of watching hockey. When the teams met again a year later, all hell broke loose in the rink in what became one of The Trasher’s most violent games.
The fans join in
On February 23, 2005, the Trashers hosted the Adirondack Frostbite. The teams combined for 106 penalty minutes in the first period, and six game-misconducts were issued in the first 10 minutes of the game. The fans loved it and each time a Trasher attacked an opponent a wave of fans in Section 102, the section directly behind the opposing team’s bench, began waving white body bags.
Despite their initial success, the Trashers struggled towards the end of the season, finishing second place in the Eastern Division with 95 points, nine points behind Adirondack. They set a UHL record PIMs at 2,776.
In the first round of the playoffs, they faced off against the Frostbite, winning the series in six games. In the second round, Danbury faced the Muskegon Fury, who led the Central Division with 111 points. Unfortunately, the Trashers were eliminated in five games by Muskegon, who went on to win the league championship. At the end of the season, with their cute and cuddly trashcan playing hockey logo, the Trashers were announced as the winners of the UHL’s Merchandiser of the Year Award.
Good business, good luck
During the off-season, the Danbury Trashers made some changes, including bringing in coach Paul Gillis from the Quad City Mallards and retaining former head coach Stirling in a scouting and consulting role. They also acquired goaltender Sylvain Daigle, a three-time Colonial Cup winner with the Fury, in a trade for top goal scorer Mike Bayrack. The team also secured agreements to broadcast all their games on local ESPN Radio affiliates and select games on Comcast Cable with a tape delay. The flurry of successful business endeavors gave the appearance of a well-managed and disciplined team primed for success.
Even luck was on The Danbury Trasher’s side. Opponents experienced a series of “bad luck” every time they faced The Danbury Trashers. For instance, during one game the heat went off in the opposing team’s locker room eliminating any hope of recuperation in between periods. In another instance, dreary eye players were awakened in the middle of the night when the fire alarm at their hotel went off at 3:00 AM. Opponents lost hot water, got dirty towels, and found their equipment mysteriously vanished. Opponents cried foul but The Trashers replied, “Boo hoo”. Ultimately The Danbury Trasher’s equipment manager was suspended by the league for covertly sabotaging the opposing team revealing that The Danbury Trashers weren’t as good at hockey as they looked – they were good at cheating.
The tide turns against The Danbury Trashers
The Trashers’ season began with two shootout games that resulted in one win and one loss, earning them three out of a possible four points. However, Gillis was unhappy with the team’s performance, and his concerns were later proven accurate as Danbury started with a 4-5-2 record. Despite this, the team improved, going on a six-game win streak in December, finishing the month without a regulation loss with a record of 11-0-3. Danbury finished the season strong, winning seven games in March and ending the year with a six-game win streak. Their success helped them win the Eastern Division title with 107 points, finishing nine points ahead of Adirondack.
Oh, so that’s how they did it
In 2006, Federal authorities infiltrated Automated Waste Disposal using an undercover agent and recorded hours of phone conversations. This led to a raid on AWD offices in Danbury and Galante’s home in New Fairfield, Connecticut, where trailers full of documents were obtained. Galante was indicted with a 98-count indictment that described him as a man who ran an illegal enterprise by monopolizing the garbage business in western Connecticut and Putnam County. He used mob tactics to strong-arm any competitors who might get in his way. Former Waterbury Mayor Joseph Santopietro, former Division Manager for Diversified Waste and Genovese Crime Family enforcer Robert Taggett, federal Drug Enforcement Agent Louis Angioletti, several of Galante’s underlings, and former Danbury Trashers hockey coach H. Todd Stirling were also indicted as a result of the investigation.
Galante’s charges included racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, Hobbs Act extortion, mail and wire fraud, witness tampering, tax fraud, and conspiracy charges. The indictment also alleged that Galante and others conspired to commit arson and kidnapping by damaging a truck owned by one of Galante’s competitors and by kidnapping the driver of that truck at gunpoint.
As the 33 men involved in the case were summarily indicted and tried, authorities confirmed that Matty “The Horse” Ianniello was paid a quarterly “mob tax” of $30,000 for his services. Almost every defendant in the case, including the bagman responsible for delivering the money and Ianniello, pleaded guilty. Ianniello pleaded guilty to racketeering and interfering with a federal grand jury probe with a sentence of between one and a half to two years in prison. Galante was indicted in 2006 on charges of paying a ‘mob tax’ to Ianniello. It was revealed that Galante was an associate of the Genovese crime family.
The Danbury Trashers – Oh, you dirty scoundrels
The Danbury Trashers were put under a microscope but investigators didn’t have to look very hard to find something amiss. The Trashers were found guilty of wire fraud due to the faxing of fraudulent salary cap documents. To get around the UHL’s $275,000 salary cap, the Trashers gave players or their spouses no-show jobs in disposal companies or provided them housing allowance checks for sums that had already been paid. It was estimated that the Trashers had exceeded the salary cap by $475,000, resulting in a total payroll closer to $750,000.
Former head coach Stirling was also charged with wire fraud for his involvement in the salary cap violation and was sentenced to five years’ probation after pleading guilty. Galante pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, and conspiring to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced to 87 months imprisonment and was required to give up ownership interests in 25 trash hauling companies, a Southbury residence, six racing cars, a trailer used to haul them, and $448,153.10 in cash seized from his business office and home.
