Now, the younger Galante has embraced boxing instead of hockey. starts innumerable sentences, "My dad always says.", Usually so engaging and candid, A.J. Josh Elzinga vs. Mark Versteeg-Lytwyn, November 24, 2006 - Port Huron Flags vs. Kalamazoo Wings. It started becoming urban legend.. The doors to the visiting team's penalty box were also welded together, so opponents had to fling themselves over the boards to enter the box. 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. What does that mean? Galante spent $3 million to refurbish the Danbury Ice Arena. Additionally, Charlie is the Head of Academics for TPH, Estero. 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. Originally from Montreal,Charlieplayed over 900 games professionally around the globe over his 17-year career, including the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers. began moonlighting as a boxing manager. "Al Davis, he was a wild man with a team full of outlaws, and that's how I wanted to be. Jimmy Galante was arrested on June 9, 2006, not long after the final game of the season. 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). ), According to ESPN, an FBI wiretap that was capturing Galantes phone calls would later reveal that three days after Wingnut broke his leg, Galante asked his business associate Ciro Viento to call Commissioner Brosal. "He can score unbelievable," A.J. Now it's probably best known for its massive federal prison, which housed Lauryn Hill and has been featured in Orange Is the New Black. He was a great owner." Her style may be unorthodox, but she fits right in between the pipes. There was something else in the books too. Some fights started spontaneously, following a big hit. In 2004, this meant buying a minor-league-hockey franchise and installing it at the local youth rink, the Danbury Ice Arena. The Trashers sprawled in the locker room as the Zamboni worked. View the profiles of people named Josh Elzinga. After taking swipes at various players, he grabbed Potvin, the Adirondack coach, and knocked him down. Players' wives were put on the payroll of Galante-owned companies though they performed no discernible duties. Josh Elzinga has an equally impressive professional playing career and has served as Adam's Assistant Coach for the past 4 seasons. But as Wingfield skated away , Elzinga stuck his leg out and pulled back on the left wing's jersey. settled on "Welcome to the Jungle." picks his words with great care when discussing what he calls "the legal issues" of the last few years. They were always pulling them out late, clearing the bench, fighting and celebrating. The trade rumors negatively impacted Torres on the field. , New Brunswick, Canada, Gilles Richard is the current Vice-President of Hockey Operations for Southeast Elite Hockey. The former Director of Hockey Operations for the Jacksonville Ice and Sports Complex, Gilles is no stranger to youth hockey. We had one [enforcer], and the poor guy got challenged every shift. After he was drafted, Vogel invited the couple to Pennsylvania for training camp in August. Though the camp was postponed until September, the St. Clairs decided to head south, meeting Vogel at Ice Line in West Chester, where he learned to skate as a kid. 2023 The Hockey News, Roustan Media Ltd, Get the latest news right to your inbox > Sign up here. He got suspended., As James Harper, a veteran minor-league linesman, was talking with the scorekeeper, he got into it with Jimmy Galante, whod come down from the owners box. At a home game in Danbury, he beat up three Adirondack forwards, AJ said. The Trashers were hosting the Kalamazoo Wings, and Brent Gretzky was being shadowed by the Kalamazoo defenseman Josh Elzinga. By accepting an offer he couldn't refuse. We knew the reality: It was hockey, but it was also entertainment. For himself he built a skybox equipped with a kitchenette and a flat-screen TV. Gustafson would later describe Galante as a manipulating, controlling, hands-on bully., When I asked Galante why hed become a fixation for prosecutors, he said, I have no idea. There was no other number. There was only one problem: it wasnt protecting her sides, leaving her exposed, and often, black and blue. SHOWTIME The Trashers didn't just start fights. It went like this: Elzinga clipped Wingfield in the face, Wingfield asked for a fight, Elzinga declined. BY JANUARY 2005 the Trashers were so riddled with suspensions that they had to suit up an assistant coach, Bobby Stearns, who suddenly became a 36-year-old pro hockey rookie. Gretzky reportedly earned $100,000, which would have left little for the rest of the team. "Jimmy's a guest of the government, and I love that man." 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. 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. ", THE RAIDERS' AL DAVIS WAS "A WILD MAN WITH A TEAM FULL OF OUTLAWS," SAYS A.J., "AND THAT'S HOW I WANTED TO BE. To Galante, it was a rounding error. As he headed to baggage claim at the small suburban airport, something didn't look right. says, shifting uneasily in his seat. This updated clip brings back the perspective of how Trashers fans were feeling during this moment of redemption. "We loved those fansI mean loved," says Omicioli. He was suspended from the UHL for life., And then there was the broken-leg game. People who tell the story start with the date, as if recalling an event of historical importance: December 1, 2004. Theres nothing sadder than a small city. did his homework," says former Trashers center Drew Omicioli, "putting in research and hard work to build the team.". Jon Nasty Mirasty, a Cree from Saskatchewan, wore a Mohawk, sometimes multicolored, and would average eight penalty minutes a game for Danbury. As evidence that Galante was prone to violence, the prosecution played footage of him purportedly striking the official during the infamous Kalamazoo game. ", In their box above center ice the Galantes heckled refs and sometimes pelted opposing players with Skittles. AJ did one of his first press calls on a cellphone in a New Fairfield High School hallway, the interview ending abruptly when a teacher walked by. They stayed in the best hotels and ate at the best restaurants. It was happening at the FBIs office in New Haven, where, by the spring of 2005, a handful of agents were deep into an investigation of Galantes garbage business. "Every character they had, we had. Tampa Bay fans still include him among their grievances: a wasted pick. A UHL season was about 80 games followed by playoffs; the champion took home the Colonial Cup. 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. Established 1996 -- Celebrating Our 25th Year . Maybe thats why I became obsessed with this story: It connects our little home rink with an epic of the human hockey condition. [The attitude was,] You're supposed to be courteous in minor league hockey? At A.J. 117 followers. Wingfield's skate caught on the ice, and as he fell back his left tibia, fibula and ankle broke with such force that the crack could be heard in the stands. A tale of goons, no-show jobs, and a legendary minor-league franchise that helped land its owner in prison. Lets face it: What else does Danbury really have?. After the game they'd come back and greet the players. Torres said he lost confidence at . I wound up having words with the referee, and unbeknownst to me, he was a full-time police officer in upstate New York, Galante told me. IT WAS A SPECIAL EXPERIENCE.". Wiretaps of thousands of phone calls between Automated Waste Disposal employees and representatives of other trash companies in 2004 and '05 revealed a variety of criminal activities. Rupp played 14 games for the Trashersracking up five goals, five assists, and 30 penalty minutesbefore going back to the NHL for nine more seasons. One day in November, an employee at the Ice Arena was proud to show the building until he was told his visitor was interested in writing an article on the Trashers. Although Jimmy and A.J., with their contempt for other franchises, took pride in letting proxies handle league board meetings and conference calls, Brosal says they were fine corporate citizens of the UHL: "Jimmy would get fined, and he would argueWho do you think you are?and five hours later the money was wired into the account. DeLuca ended up resigning from office because of the scandal. The Trashers still trigger strong responses in Danbury, too. Soon Jimmy was renting buses to take fans to big road games. The issue was a letter he wanted Harper to send the commissioner, absolving Galante: Tell him that it is fucking imperative that we get that letter that Harpers gonna write to Brosal. Galante added what the referee should say in the letter: After coolin off and thinking about it for a few days I was just as much at fault. Harper never sent such a letter, but another wiretap captured Viento on the phone with Brosal: I was asked to give you a call, but not to give you a call, so that you would never be put in the predicament where somebody said that you were called. (Brosal denied any effort at coercion. Barely two months into the season Ndur was suspended for 20 games after fighting not just opposing players but also officials and opposing coaches. Then the FBI moved in. The most famous tough-guy team ever was whothe Broad Street Bullies, 7475 Flyers? Rupp had played two seasons in the NHL and had even scored the decisive goal for the Devils in the 2003 Stanley Cup finals. When the 2004--05 lockout ended, Rupp returned to the NHL and is still playing, for the Wild. Jon (Nasty) Mirasty averaged more than eight minutes of penalties over 25 games. But even Wingnut had nothing on Chad Wagner. The game turned into a riot, everyone taking a run at everyone else. Everyone, however, agrees that he did it at least in part for his son, AJ, who was 17. Let's just say hindsight is 20/20. Wagner generally played on one- or two-game contracts, and promised AJ that he would take care of the Frostbite. Still, Vogel wanted something to remember the moment by, so he donned his goalie gear to take some photos with Brenda on the ice. 's high school Jimmy paid to refurbish the football stadium. AFTER THE FALL While Jimmy (below right) serves out his prison sentence, A.J. ago] Height 5.11 -- Weight 175 [180 cm/79 kg] Embed Josh Elzinga stats! AL hasattended many coaching seminars and clinics around North America. Hockey Fights is an entertainment site with no direct affiliation to the National Hockey League, its teams, or NHLPA. (Jimmy was allowed to answer only a few questions by email sent through A.J. It will have desperate people, lost causes, and crime. A legion of small business owners still talk about how, on Trashers game nights, downtown blazed to life. 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. Somehow they got the message upstairs. In a 2004 altercation with Josh Elzinga of the Kalamazoo Wings, Wingfield's season was cut short when he gruesomely broke his leg from a Elzinga slew-foot (the act of sweeping out someone's leg.) Thirty-two other individuals, including Matty the Horse, were charged as part of the investigation. But his fights are what people remember. Adam Elzinga. Though he scored on the play, he lost sight in his left eye. - Premium Design on your profile page (optional) Good hotels, a beautiful locker roomseveral players remember their tenure on the team as their most satisfying time in pro hockey. ", In his first game for Danbury, Beauregard had a goal and an assist as the Trashers won 5--1. "I said, 'Sure,' which, to my dad, was like signing a contract. The team played in the Wings Stadium. Galante, at 17, come to run a minor league hockey team with NHL talentand, in turn, take a leading role in Slap Shot meets GoodFellas meets Hoosiers? Says St. Clair, "It still feels like I got kicked in the f------ chest. He graduated from Manhattanville with a business management degree in 2008 and bought into a New York City company that sells heating oil and diesel fuel. Some say he did it as a civic benefactor, to give a depressed city something to rally around. She had tears in her eyes and was thanking us so much. For a few hours, hockey had given Brenda a sense of normalcy to which Vogel can relate. Gilles is a Level 4 Hockey Coach with USA Hockey. Southeast Elite is proud to announce the Mathieu Garon with be an instrumental member of the Southeast Elite organization as a goaltender instructor. He was just back from that broken leg when the Wings came to Danbury. But Jimmy Galante was smart, and the G-men could never quite nail him. They happily agreed. Although the Trashers reported budget came in under the cap, the feds would later claim that for the 200405 season the actual figure was approximately $750,000. When the signal comes, they pull on a fresh shirt, put on the gear, head out. She had always wanted to play in a game and afterward she kept talking, Did you see this save and that save? It was really, really great. Residents greeted the new hockey team with considerable excitement. Upon his release he had rebuilt his empire and now, according to The Hartford Courant, was worth more than $100 million. When father and son get together, they talk family, business, the future. Sign up for EP Premium and verify your profile to access these benefits. (Prosecutors ultimately dropped the case for lack of proof. But for the Trashers, there was a third game, although neither Jimmy nor AJ knew about it. As Wingfield skated away, Elzinga grabbed the back of his opponents jersey and pulled him over his outstretched leg, breaking Wingfields left tibia, fibula and ankle. Rumun Ndur ended up seeing red and going batshit crazy, AJ told me. News, Roustan Media Ltd, Get the latest News right to your inbox Sign. The date, as if recalling an event of historical importance: December 1 2004! Depressed city something to rally around face it: what else does Danbury really have? resigning from because. The locker room as the Zamboni worked every shift but she fits right between... 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