Дэнбери "Трэшерс": Хоккей клубының тарихы мен құлауы

Professional minor league ice hockey team

The Danbury Trashers were a United Hockey League (UHL) professional ice hockey team located in Danbury, Connecticut, first established in 2004 as an expansion team. The team was named for its owner's business in waste management; James Galante purchased the franchising rights for $500,000 and named his 17 year old son, A. J., president and general manager. As part of the franchising agreement, Galante invested an additional $1.5 million to upgrade the team's home arena, Danbury Ice Arena, from a 750 seat facility to a 3,000 seat venue. In their first season, the Trashers quickly gained notoriety for their bullish, physical style of play, setting a league record for penalty minutes. The season witnessed two separate brawls and multiple player suspensions. Danbury finished second in its division and was eliminated in the playoffs by the Muskegon Fury, the eventual Colonial Cup champions. In their second year, the Trashers won the Eastern Division and reached the finals, but lost the championship to the Kalamazoo Wings, handing them their only loss of the playoffs. At the end of the team's second season, Galante was arrested on 72 criminal charges, including conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). He pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 87 months in prison, and had to forfeit his ownership interests in 25 trash hauling companies. During the same time, the Trashers disbanded, citing financial concerns including travel costs.

The Danbury Trashers were founded as an expansion team in the United Hockey League (UHL) on April 1, 2004, by James Galante, a garbage disposal mogul, who paid a $500,000 franchise fee to the league. Galante had considered investing in the New Haven Knights prior to the franchise folding. A. J. was a 17 year old high school student at the time and according to UHL commissioner Richard Brosal, some around the league thought it was an April Fools' Day joke. After graduating high school, Galante attended Manhattanville College while maintaining his organizational duties. The new team was named the Trashers, a reference to the elder Galante's main business, He also brought in skill players such as Jim Duhart, who led the UHL in scoring the previous season, former National Hockey League (NHL) player Brent Gretzky, and Michael Rupp, who played for the team during the 2004–05 NHL lockout.

The Trashers first season began with the team playing around .500 hockey. Then a quarter of the way through the 2004–05 season they went on a seven game unbeaten streak that moved them into first place in the Eastern Division. The streak was part of nine consecutive games without a regulation loss. This lifted the Trashers into a tie for first place in the league. During the winning streak one of two brawls of the season occurred. In a game against the Kalamazoo Wings on December 1, Wingfield attempted to instigate a fight after an altercation with a Wings player. The player refused to fight, but as Wingfield skated away the player grabbed Wingfield's jersey and pulled him back over an outstretched leg. Wingfield's skate caught on the ice as he fell backwards breaking his ankle. The play incited a brawl, in which Ndur fought with two players, attempted to kick a linesman, and charged the Wings bench, before the officials were able to subdue him. Upset with the officiating, James Galante went down to ice level to voice his opinion. Galante entered the ice via the penalty box where he got into a shouting match with a linesman and allegedly punched him. For his actions Galante was charged with misdemeanor assault and fined by the UHL for leaving the owner's box. The UHL stated that because of the disturbances on the ice they could not determine what actually happened. The linesman was suspended for five games for his part in the altercation. Danbury again found success after the brawl going 8–3–0 in their next 11 games. The Trashers struggled towards the end of the season having both a four and three game losing streak and posting a 2–6–2 record. They also 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. In the off season the Trashers changed head coaches, bringing in Paul Gillis, who had coached the Quad City Mallards the previous season. Stirling remained with the team in a scouting and consulting role. They also brought in a new goaltender, Sylvain Daigle, who had won three Colonial Cups with the Fury. Daigle was taken by the Port Huron Flags in an expansion draft and traded to Danbury for their top goal scorer Mike Bayrack. They also reached an agreement to have all of their games broadcast on local ESPN Radio affiliated stations and to have select games broadcast on tape delay locally on Comcast Cable. The Trashers began the season with two shootout games, winning one and losing the other. Despite earning three out of a possible four points, Gillis was unhappy with the team's performance. His concerns were later proved accurate as Danbury started the year with a 4–5–2 record. The Trashers hovered around the .500 mark going into December where they started the month with a six game win streak that brought them within five points of first place in Eastern Division. They finished December without a regulation loss going 11–0–3. Danbury finished the season strong with a seven game win streak in March and finished the year on a six game win streak. In the first round the Trashers faced off against Gillis's former team, the Mallards. Although the Trashers began the playoffs as the second seed, they had lost both regular season match ups with the Mallards. Danbury lost the first two games of the seven game series at home and were facing Games 3–5 on the road. The Trashers won Games 3 and 4 to tie the series before losing game five. Facing elimination, Danbury won the final two games to win the series in seven games and advance to the second round. In the finals, the Trashers faced the Kalamazoo Wings, who had not lost a game in the playoffs.

In June 2006, James Galante was charged with 72 various charges including racketeering. One of the charges that pertained directly to the Trashers was wire fraud, which resulted from the interstate faxing of fraudulent salary cap documents. Galante pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), one count of conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, and one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced to 87 months of imprisonment and had to forfeit his 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. The players from both Danbury and Adirondack were placed into a dispersal draft and selected by the remaining teams in the UHL. Afterwards, the Danbury market was served by a string of short lived teams; as of 2023 only the Danbury Hat Tricks (Federal Prospects Hockey League) play at Danbury Ice Arena.

The story of James Galante and the Danbury Trashers was covered in the 2021 Netflix documentary Untold: Crimes & Penalties. It will be the subject of a feature film, titled The Trashers, from director Cooper Raiff, with David Harbour and Cooper Hoffman set to star as James and AJ Galante. The story of the Trashers was also the subject of the Novel podcast series The Fighty Pucks.