Every great team needs a great rival. The Trashers still trigger strong responses in Danbury, too. We would yell down during warm-ups, Come on, youre going to be skating for us next year! And theyd look at me and rub their fingers, and Id reach in my pocket and pull out my wallet, and theyd start laughing., Beauregard was one of my favorites, AJ said. He went online to find the main switchboard number for the Roanoke Valley (Va.) Vipers, left a message and eventually made contact with his counterpart. And what's more entertaining than a bunch of crazy guys getting into fights?". Unlike most enforcers, Wingnut could really play. Be a goalie, to which she said, Alright. An 11-year-old girl in Detroit had to get staples in her head after . That meant late-night sessions on hockeydb.com, where he searched for telling stats. The judge let Galante remain out of prison pending trial but put him under house arrest. "It was loud," says A.J., "and security was very, let's just say, flexible." (Colella denies this.) He was born in the Bronx but grew up in bucolic South Salem, New York; did a stint in the Air Force; and then took a job driving a garbage truck. Adam has over 25 years of hockey experience as a player and coach. Stirling avoided jail time after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud. Josh Gratton vs Adam Elzinga - Sep 5, 2001 - YouTube NHL hockey fights, brawls, scrums, roughs, hits, cheap shots, and other incidents. If asked why they hadnt made it, theyd tell you no one had ever really given them a shot. She started playing hockey, in her wheelchair. After the game they'd come back and greet the players. A UHL season was about 80 games followed by playoffs; the champion took home the Colonial Cup. And, according to court papers filed by the U.S. Attorneys office, his business disputes occasionally ended in violence: For nearly two decades, Galantes enterprise promoted a climate of fear through violence, threats of violence, economic sanctions and threats of economic sanctions. "You got us a guy with one eye? We only use official stats. There was an incident where one of our players attacked one of the Adirondack coaches, and that ended up in the Toronto Star. When an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. A legion of small business owners still talk about how, on Trashers game nights, downtown blazed to life. At 4 a.m. the players would be out in the parking lot, huddled in their underwear. . 69 posts. Still, Vogel wanted something to remember the moment by, so he donned his goalie gear to take some photos with Brenda on the ice. Cortisone shots help her deal with frequent elbow pain. In his 56 games with the Trashers, Wingfield piled up 496 penalty minutes. His accomplishments includeover 30 wins across the World, along with competing with Team USA at World Championships. It was all over the blogs and hockey-fight sites, the craziness. And so it was that Jimmy Galante's "property rights system," as the government called it, became one of the largest racketeering cases in U.S. history. When A.J. Throughout his busy professional career, he has also participated in numerous hockey schools around the country. The Trashers folded three days after Galantes arrest. Not a subscriber? FUNNY THING about Connecticut: It's one of the wealthiest states, but it also has a good many broke cities and hard-ass working-class towns. The team was largely the same, with a few additions, including yet another minor-league-hockey legend, David Beauregard. "The Danbury Trashers were the Syracuse Bulldogs of the movie Slap Shot," says Pomposello, the all-purpose assistant. AJ filled out the roster with a mix of has-beens and might-bes. MIKE RUPP wore a look of confusion. He allegedly kicked a referee. Now he was turning up with his gear at a regional airport, being greeted too enthusiastically by what looked like a high-school kid claiming to be his new GM. pursues his new sports passion, boxing management. - Premium Design on your profile page (optional) "Al Davis, he was a wild man with a team full of outlaws, and that's how I wanted to be. Wagner had once set a West Coast Hockey League single-season record with 503 penalty minutes. Federal authorities had grown interested in the Connecticut waste-management industry. The Trashers' marquee player was Brent Gretzky, Wayne's kid brother. Asked what hes up to these days, he said, Enjoying life.. Elzinga refused. None of this fazes the 47-year-old Brenda. also hired Tommy (T-Bone) Pomposello, a former minor leaguer, who would do everything from managing the equipment to scouting talent to helping run practice. The 200405 Trashers blew through the UHL like a freak storm. As the case proceeded, there was plenty of collateral damage. He was an owner of Automated Waste Disposal, a conglomerate of at least 25 trash-hauling businesses that held a near monopoly in western Connecticut and Westchester. By the second round, they had nothing left. Kalamazoo Wings (Kalamazoo,MI) United Hockey League [Minor Professional] 2000-2007 [click to view all-time roster] Though he started with no contacts in the sport, often relying on Google to find the main phone numbers of other teams, A.J. During his four years of collegiate playfor the Miami OH Redhawks (CCHA), he received the Terry Flannagan Humanitarian Award recognizing Ernie's strong character and leadership skills both on and off of the ice. Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Adam Elzinga, 1982-07-23 Burbank, IL, USA USA. As evidence that Galante was prone to violence, the prosecution played footage of him purportedly striking the official during the infamous Kalamazoo game. (He also forfeited his ownership in 25 trash-hauling firms.) Established 1996 -- Celebrating Our 25th Year . The government seized most of his assets, including 25 trash companies and a string of race cars. Brian was born and raised in Detroit Michigan. We had one [enforcer], and the poor guy got challenged every shift. Matty the Horse spent 18 months in the big house, but he survived it, dying a free man in August 2012. Rupp had played two seasons in the NHL and had even scored the decisive goal for the Devils in the 2003 Stanley Cup finals. The team played in the Wings Stadium. 14U A - Josh Elzinga 14U AA - Eric Ricard and Johnny Pelletier 16U A - Dylan Forsythe and Devon Rodriguez 16U AA USPHL - Tony Lessel 18U AA - Peter Jerabeck Coach's Bios Will be released the week prior to tryouts For more information contact: Tony Lessel, Hockey Director TonyL@floridaeverblades.com - 239-948-7825 x1303 The United Hockey League's $300,000 franchising fee for a new team? He did have a weakness, though. One year ago we knocked on the door, he said. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. - Improve your search rank And the fans, from section 102 and beyond, still miss their team. But he would become something of a hockey Crash Davis: He would play through 2013, retiring at 37. ", Jimmy paused. So I reached out to a guy I knew in the Quebec League and said, Get me Chad Wagner., Chad Wagner was one of the most feared hockey fighters of the era. Originally from the Metro Detroit area, Craig grew up playing youth hockey in Michigan within the Detroit Little Caesars organization. Could there be a better symbol of the link between fans and team? After he was drafted, Vogel invited the couple to Pennsylvania for training camp in August. I fined him. I have to win a title in something. I first heard it from a father on the sidelines of a Little League game soon after I moved in. After taking swipes at various players, he grabbed Potvin, the Adirondack coach, and knocked him down. Young Blood, Goon, they were all there. "Listen," he said, "my dad is coming home for dinner at 7:30, and if I don't have a goal scorer by then, I'm in big trouble." A small town has its lawns and picket fences and wholesome values, a big town its go-getters and civic fathers. For himself he built a skybox equipped with a kitchenette. So in 2004 Galante sank his money into the hockey equivalent of Double A ball. He offered Roanoke not just a pair of current Trashers but also other players in the UHL supplemental draft that summer. Some say he did it for the same reason he owned a race-car squad: He loved to compete. "We had two defensemen hurt; otherwise we woulda won," A.J. And the noisemy God, the noise! A.J. I figured it would be like a video game, controlling players and all that. 117 Followers, 355 Following, 69 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Josh Elzinga (@jelzinga86) 117 Followers, 355 Following, 69 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Josh Elzinga (@jelzinga86) jelzinga86. The wiretaps captured Galantes associates recalling a trip to Mount Kisco, New York, where they wentas Michael Gustafson, the lead assistant U.S. attorney who handled the case, would later state in courtto retain the services of a leg-breaker known as the Carpenter. Also caught on tape was Galante telling an associate to deliver a message to a would-be canary: Long Island says hello, referring to Matty the Horse Ianniello. Jim grew up and played minor hockey in Toronto, Canada. So Im like, How the hell am I going to get a trade? I ended up taking this Vipers fan booklet and calling the merchandise number. Still, it was clear who had the ultimate authority: Before and after some games Jimmy gave the team fiery pep talks and blistering critiques. The NHL bars players who are blind in one eye, so Beauregard was consigned to a career in the minors. That spring, when A.J. Theres nothing sadder than a small city. In 2004, this meant buying a minor-league-hockey franchise and installing it at the local youth rink, the Danbury Ice Arena. Good hotels, a beautiful locker roomseveral players remember their tenure on the team as their most satisfying time in pro hockey. He has talked casually with A.J. AJ spent the summer after his senior year assembling a roster. says. ", 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. During the 201011 season, the Quebec League averaged 3.2 fights a game. So we knew Jimmy had resources.. In return, Jimmy asked only that the players make hospital visits or speak at schools. As Wagner was escorted there, he broke free to make a dash toward the opposing bench. Many signed with the American Hockey League, the league directly below the NHL, pushing AHL players down to teams in the UHL. Galante was a philanthropist; a pediatric suite in the emergency department of Danbury Hospital was named for his family. It was one of those things where wed say, Hit this guy. But no one could catch him. That May they played their hated rival, Kalamazoo, in the Colonial Cup finals. Most recently in the AAHL with Chicago Blaze. He has ties,' " says Brosal. That's all we needed to hear. Yet the father delegated personnel moves to the son. The injury barred him from the NHL, so he was down among the minor-league rabble. Adam Elzinga. That matchup was marred by a brawl that kicked off when Trashers left winger Brad Wingfield attempted to fight Kalamazoos Josh Elzinga, who declined the invitation. He wore a full face mask. The teenage sports exec became an irresistible media story. The New York Yankees have the Boston Red Sox; the Chicago Bears, the Green Bay Packers. Barely two months into the season Ndur was suspended for 20 games after fighting not just opposing players but also officials and opposing coaches. We were maybe the toughest team to ever play this game. 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? Wagner's career stats in the league: two games and 73 penalty minutes. Wagner generally played on one- or two-game contracts, and promised AJ that he would take care of the Frostbite. Soon Jimmy was renting buses to take fans to big road games. ", In his first game for Danbury, Beauregard had a goal and an assist as the Trashers won 5--1. signed him for another game against Adirondack, in Danbury on Feb. 23, which was also WWE Night. The former Director of Hockey Operations for the Jacksonville Ice and Sports Complex, Gilles is no stranger to youth hockey. Vogel and the St. Clairs developed a friendship on Facebook thanks to their mutual interest in hockey. starts innumerable sentences, "My dad always says.", Usually so engaging and candid, A.J. He caught Josh Elzinga in a corner, called him out, beat him down. That team was uniquely physical, to put it nicely, Doug Christiansen, a 6-foot-5 Trashers wing, told me. Somehow they got the message upstairs. Asked how the payback made him feel, Wingnut said great, but I would have liked to have seen him leaving the ice on a stretcher or in a body bag.. HOCKEY IS BACK!!!. Listen to the trailer for Holy Week. I'll own it. Just two unforgettable seasons sealed in amber. "He's the only thing this team has going for it.". "Before games we'd be mobbed," says Tom Devine, owner of the Two Steps Downtown Grille. I suspended him. You in? ", THESE BONDS were cemented by a brand of violence the Trashers purveyed without apology. I suspended his son." 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. , these BONDS were cemented by a brand of violence the Trashers purveyed without.. And security was very, let 's just say, Hit this guy Connecticut waste-management industry goalie, to it... 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