good riddance
Let's just say 'Trashers' is an appropriate name for this franchise. The Mafia-connected owner bought a UHL team for his 18-year-old son to run (Insiders only...check the comments to this post for the article), and the team made the Charlestown Chiefs look like the Swedish Olympic team. Total embarassment to hockey.
UHL team cancels season after mob indictmentAssociated Press
DANBURY, Conn. -- The Danbury Trashers, whose owner was charged in a federal Mafia indictment, will not compete in the United Hockey League next season.
Team owner James Galante was arrested Friday on charges of racketeering, extortion, witness tampering and circumventing the league's salary cap. Prosecutors say he overpaid players and their wives with money from his mob-connected garbage companies.
The United Hockey League on Monday did not indicate whether the team intends to regroup for the 2007-08 season. The minor league team's players are expected to be dispersed in a draft later this week.
Galante is in prison awaiting trial and his family's bank accounts have been frozen. Federal marshals are working out of the building where the Trashers and Galante's garbage companies were based.
Federal authorities said some hockey players and their wives had no-show jobs with Galante's garbage companies, allowing him to pump $750,000 into salaries when the team's cap was about $250,000.
Prosecutors said Galante paid $30,000 every three months to reputed Genovese crime family boss Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello for mob muscle to maintain his company's dominance.
The Trashers lost in the league finals to the Kalamazoo Wings last month.
HA. Good riddance.
And how about a little witness intimidation to go along with it? (December '04)
Attorney won't drop assault charges vs. owner
HARTFORD, Conn. -- A minor league hockey referee wants assault charges dropped against a team owner who he claimed punched him last week, but prosecutors won't drop the case.
Linesman James Harper accused James Galante, owner of the Danbury Trashers of the United Hockey League, of punching him in the penalty box after a Dec. 1 game, but later changed his mind.
"The linesman who pressed charges has called state's attorney's office. He doesn't wish to charge Mr. Galante with anything," league president Richard Brosal said. "In the heat of the moment, things get said and things get done."
But Danbury State's Attorney Walter D. Flanagan compared the fight to the brawls involving the Indiana Pacers and the Clemson and South Carolina football teams.
"On the heels of what happened in the SEC and in Detroit, things are totally out of control," Flanagan said. "No one's going to be coddled here."
Galante is to be arraigned Wednesday on misdemeanor assault charges.
Friday's game between the Trashers and the Kalamazoo Wings was particularly violent. One player was hospitalized in the second period and 18 penalties were called in the third.
Danbury defender Rumun Ndur received a 20-game suspension Monday. Kalamazoo defender Josh Elzinga was suspended five games.
UHL team cancels season after mob indictmentAssociated Press
DANBURY, Conn. -- The Danbury Trashers, whose owner was charged in a federal Mafia indictment, will not compete in the United Hockey League next season.
Team owner James Galante was arrested Friday on charges of racketeering, extortion, witness tampering and circumventing the league's salary cap. Prosecutors say he overpaid players and their wives with money from his mob-connected garbage companies.
The United Hockey League on Monday did not indicate whether the team intends to regroup for the 2007-08 season. The minor league team's players are expected to be dispersed in a draft later this week.
Galante is in prison awaiting trial and his family's bank accounts have been frozen. Federal marshals are working out of the building where the Trashers and Galante's garbage companies were based.
Federal authorities said some hockey players and their wives had no-show jobs with Galante's garbage companies, allowing him to pump $750,000 into salaries when the team's cap was about $250,000.
Prosecutors said Galante paid $30,000 every three months to reputed Genovese crime family boss Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello for mob muscle to maintain his company's dominance.
The Trashers lost in the league finals to the Kalamazoo Wings last month.
HA. Good riddance.
And how about a little witness intimidation to go along with it? (December '04)
Attorney won't drop assault charges vs. owner
HARTFORD, Conn. -- A minor league hockey referee wants assault charges dropped against a team owner who he claimed punched him last week, but prosecutors won't drop the case.
Linesman James Harper accused James Galante, owner of the Danbury Trashers of the United Hockey League, of punching him in the penalty box after a Dec. 1 game, but later changed his mind.
"The linesman who pressed charges has called state's attorney's office. He doesn't wish to charge Mr. Galante with anything," league president Richard Brosal said. "In the heat of the moment, things get said and things get done."
But Danbury State's Attorney Walter D. Flanagan compared the fight to the brawls involving the Indiana Pacers and the Clemson and South Carolina football teams.
"On the heels of what happened in the SEC and in Detroit, things are totally out of control," Flanagan said. "No one's going to be coddled here."
Galante is to be arraigned Wednesday on misdemeanor assault charges.
Friday's game between the Trashers and the Kalamazoo Wings was particularly violent. One player was hospitalized in the second period and 18 penalties were called in the third.
Danbury defender Rumun Ndur received a 20-game suspension Monday. Kalamazoo defender Josh Elzinga was suspended five games.