On April 1, 2004 at the Danbury Arena, it was announced that for the first time in the city’s history a professional sports team would be coming to Danbury, Connecticut. The owner was local tycoon and philanthropist James Galante. He was set to enter his team in the Double-A level United Hockey League. During the press conference, Galante announced that his 17-Year-Old son, AJ Galante, would be the President and General Manager of the Danbury Trashers. 17 years later, the Galantes were the subject of an episode of the Netflix Sports Documentary Series Untold, with the aptly named episode, Crimes and Penalties.

“Is This A Joke?”

During his senior year of high school, AJ was a tough, hardnosed defenseman for the New Fairfield Rebels, a team located just outside of Danbury. He led the team in penalty minutes during his junior season. In a game later in the season, AJ laid a hard body check on the boards and tore his ACL in the process.

After the season ended and AJ missed the second half of his senior year, his father gave him an offer.

“I remember after the high school season ended, we were having dinner. He kinda nonchalantly said he was going to start a [hockey] team in the fall of ’04 and he wanted me to be the president,” AJ told Drive4Five. “And I thought he was playing around but he was serious, so I said ‘yeah, sure, that’s great’ kinda thinking he was joking and I learned real quick that it wasn’t a joke and it was craziness ever since.”

At that time, the Galantes met UHL Commissioner Richard Brosal who immediately thought it was a joke.

“I remember him thinking it was still a joke,” AJ said. “I don’t think he believed it.”

At that time, the Galantes decided on a name, AJ wasn’t fond of it early, as the team was going to be named the Danbury Trashers. It was a nod to the elder Galante’s business, with a sweet logo designed by Danbury-based designer Dom Alessandro. It was officially announced on April 1, in what many thought was going to be an April Fools Day joke.

A Mix of Wrestling and Hockey

Growing up, AJ had two loves: wrestling, and hockey. So much so, for his 10th birthday, Galante had WWE Superstars Triple H, The Rock, Chyna and Billy Gunn in his backyard for a pool party.

“More people have asked me about my 10th birthday party than anything,” AJ said.

Seven years later, Galante called on the help of his middle school hockey coach. His name was Tom “T-Bone” Pomposello, and he was hired as the team’s equipment manager and special assistant to the president.

Pomposello had been an equipment manager with the Hartford Wolf Pack, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, New Haven Knights, and at the time of joining the Trashers, he was with the Army Black Knights.

“He definitely checked kids into the boards, what you see in the documentary is really him,” AJ said.

Talented Hockey Team

Pomposello helped get players for the inexperienced Galante. Tough forward Brad Wingfield was first. Wingfield had just finished his season in Corpus Christi and came up to Danbury. He was signed, as were other tough guys like Jon “Nasty” Mirasty, Frank “The Animal” Bialowas and Dave MacIsaac. The Trashers also signed Brent Gretzky and Rumen Ndur, two players with NHL experience. Gretzky also had name recognition, as he was the brother of the greatest hockey player of all time.

In the 2004-05 season, Danbury led the UHL in Penalty minutes with 2776. Besides the tough guys, there were good scorers on the Trashers. That included one-game NHLer Jeff Daw, and former first-round picks Mario Laroque and Blake Bellefeuille, as well as John Morlang, who split the season with the local Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL, as well as Bruce Richardson who scored 87 points and recorded 138 penalty minutes.

Danbury was coached by Todd Stirling in that first season. Stirling was the son of at-the-time New York Islanders head coach Steve Stirling. Todd also brought his brother Scott, a goalie who had spent the last two seasons in the Islanders’ organization, to join the Trashers.

Lockout Additions

Due to the NHL Lockout, NHL players came to the UHL. In Motor City, Chris Chelios, Derian Hatcher, former Islander Bryan Smolinski and Sean Avery suited up. In Missouri, it was former Calder winner Barrett Jackman and Jamal Mayers. Avery was almost traded to Danbury.

“I’ll tell you, we were this close to getting Sean Avery. He would’ve been the perfect Danbury Trasher,” AJ said.

And the biggest signing was Mike Rupp. Two years after scoring the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, Rupp played the part in the 2004-05 season with the Trashers.

“I was at Game 7 when he scored that goal, so I was like I want that guy. And when the list came out of who wanted to play in the UHL, he was on there,” AJ said.

Amidst all the craziness during the season, AJ always wanted the toughest team. But as tough as the Trashers were, they were very talented.

They ended the 2004-05 season 44-29-7 and beat Adirondack in the first round. In the second round, the Muskegon Fury beat the Trashers on their way to the Colonial Cup championship.

It was then time to add to the team. First, the netminder who had shut down the Trashers in Muskegon – Sly Daigle – came to Danbury, as did brothers Mike and Drew Omicioli and tough two-way forward Jamie Thompson.

The Night It Came Together

There were many signature nights for the Trashers in their two years, and you can find some in the documentary. But, one night more than others stands out. It was WWE night at the Danbury Arena on Feb. 23, 2005 when the Trashers hosted their rivals, the Adirondack Frostbite.

Appearing at WWE Night was WWE Superstar John Cena.

“I had no idea that John Cena was coming to that game up until that week when our Broadcaster Phil Giubelio told me,” AJ said.

Suiting up that night was Chad Wagner, four years removed from his last professional game, who was appearing in his second game for Danbury.

“Cena ended up hanging out with us. He stayed with us until the second period, and of course, that night is infamous for what happened on the ice. I remember before the game we had to tell the team to put on a show. It was a full-scale line brawl, that really wasn’t one because it was so one-sided. Chad Wagner went over to the Adirondack bench after leaving the penalty box and grab [Adirondack Coach] Marc Potvin’s tie and subsequently got suspended from life by the league,” AJ said.

Best Fans In Hockey

Behind the opposing bench, the loudest and most rowdy fans made themselves heard early. Many of the fans in section 102 migrated from the old New Haven Coliseum’s Section 12 and became the most ruthless and volatile hockey fans in the world.

“The greatest fans in the world. They were part of our team. I had players tell us in the second year, opposing players would tell us they hated playing in Danbury and a lot of those came from those guys and girls in Section 102, right over the opposing bench. It made it very very difficult,” AJ said.

AJ, along with Tommy Pomposello, allegedly did things to get an advantage, like washing jerseys in Crisco Oil, among other things.

“There were some things we did allegedly that weren’t in the rulebook,” AJ said.

The Second Year

The Trashers were retooled with a new coach, a new group of players, but some of the same faces returning. Brad Wingfield came back after a nasty leg injury, which is detailed in the documentary.

“I never thought he was coming back,” AJ said.

The 2005-06 Trashers team was really strong and made one major pickup in the second half of the season. They traded for David-Alexander Beauregard, a former San Jose Sharks’ top-10 pick who had aspirations for the NHL but suffered a freak eye injury in his rookie season. More than 10 years later, Beauregard was a superstar in the UHL and helped the Trashers back into the playoffs after winning the East Division with a record of 48-17-11.

In the playoffs, the Trashers beat Adirondack again, then defeated Quad City, and then overcame the demons from 2004-05 and beat Muskegon in six.

In the championship, they took on the team who had given them some headaches, the Kalamazoo Wings, and the Trashers had played well, but lost in five games after an overtime goal.

“Kalamazoo was such a strong team. I’ll never forget that goalie, Joel Martin. He played out of his mind,” AJ said.

Galante had plans for a third year, but the Trashers were shut down after an FBI raid. This ended the legendary run of the Trashers after only two seasons.

After the Trashers

AJ graduated and then got a job with a local heating oil company.

“I had two years left in college. I would go to class stay in my dorm. That was it, it was a tough time with family stuff and losing the team. I was proud of myself for finishing school,” AJ said.

After over five years of working, AJ found a new love.

Located just a half-mile from the Danbury Arena, AJ opened Champs Boxing Club.

“Me getting into boxing is probably more random than me getting into hockey. At least with the Trashers I played hockey. I only knew Mike Tyson. I didn’t watch boxing, there wasn’t a gym and now 10 years later the business is thriving,” AJ said.

Now, AJ is feeling the love.

“There has been so much support, not just from here in Danbury, which has embraced us more like it was 2005, but across the world, especially Canada,” AJ said.

That crowd has included Drake and Tyson Fury, as well as collaborations with WWE, Barstool Sports, Chalkline among others. AJ sent his personal jersey to Drake himself right after the documentary was released.

“It just has been a whirlwind of emotions,” AJ said.

Hockey in Danbury is still alive and well. After the Trashers came the Mad Hatters, followed by the successful Whalers, who won the city’s first professional sports title. Then came the Titans after the Whalers were evicted, but when the Titans shuttered the doors, hockey was dormant from the city for two years. In 2019, the Danbury Hat Tricks came to town.

Thank you to AJ Galante for sitting down with us to talk about his experiences with the Danbury Trashers. You can watch the documentary Untold: Crimes and Penalties on Netflix for more.