said. We still got eight goons.. "After games you'd have these blue-collar guys next to wealthy real estate developers. All told, he played just five games for them. And Brenda was given a new on-ice opportunity when Mad Hatters goalie Jeff Hill jokingly yelled at her to Be a man. After the game they'd come back and greet the players. 2013-current Head Coach of the 2005 AAA Florida Alliance/Southeast Elite Program, 11 years in professional hockey in the AHL, ECHL, and Europe, More information about Marc can be found at, Over 13 years as a Professional Triathlete with 35 overall victories, Oldest Pro to ever compete in Pro World Championship 2006, Junior Hockey- Ohio Juniors Collegiate Hockey Ohio University, Private lessons and Camps Specializing in European Power skating. "I said, 'Sure,' which, to my dad, was like signing a contract. The injury barred him from the NHL, so he was down among the minor-league rabble. Within a few weeks the town's tattoo artists had learned to replicate the trash-can logo. was fined and suspended for nearly coming to blows with an executive from another team during a game. 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. 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. ", THESE BONDS were cemented by a brand of violence the Trashers purveyed without apology. The team's actual payroll would later be estimated at $750,000. Ohio Gov. "Of course, if we had to do it again, would we have accepted that franchise? (The video was inconclusive.) The pediatric emergency room at Danbury Hospital was named for Galante after he helped fund it. The Washington Capitals have signed defenseman Nick Jensen to a three-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $4.05 million. "I want to trade for Beauregard," A.J. When an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. "I still hate even the name Kalamazoo.". Says St. Clair, "It still feels like I got kicked in the f------ chest. 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.) Though he started with no contacts in the sport, often relying on Google to find the main phone numbers of other teams, A.J. When it came time to negotiate Gretzkys contract, AJ turned the deal over to his father. This summer, she took multiple trips to the ER for what she believes is a pinched nerve in her neck. Still, as one might expect from a teenage GM, the roster was dense with goons. Elzinga refused. He currently resides in Southwest Florida with his wife, Wendy, and their two children. 2023 ABG-SI LLC. The FBI had sent an agent undercover to pass himself off as a rogue salesman and befriend the men around Galante. Wagner generally played on one- or two-game contracts, and promised AJ that he would take care of the Frostbite. Before and after games downtown Danbury was hopping. 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. Jimmy Galante tried to get onto the ice through the penalty box. He had me arrested in the locker room. However, hed been to prison for tax evasion. Last seen in the 2003-2004 season with the Chicago Steel (USHL). 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. The cornerstone of Marc's approach is focusing on making each hockey player a better athlete. First of all, if you look at the bus, it was pretty sick, Mario Larocque told me. 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. . VS. 1st Period - 12:37. It had a great economic impact on the entire downtown.". "You got us a guy with one eye? "Then everyone would ask for the check so they could be there for face-off. Between periods, players take off their jersey and pads. Players - FM Leaders; Teams - FM Leaders . said of Beauregard. When Jimmy returned from work, his son greeted him with the big news. - EP Contact Book listing of your profile (optional) MICHAEL J. LEBRECHT II FOR SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (A.J.). "Well, he's like anyone else to me. Soon, a 3-on-3 scrimmage was underway with Brenda, for the first time in her life, facing shots in a real game. In the indictment filed by the U.S. Attorneys office, Galante was charged with 72 counts, including extortion, witness tampering, and racketeering. He took a shot at us, AJ told me. You have to understand, Dave MacIsaac, who played 62 regular-season games for Danbury, told me. picks his words with great care when discussing what he calls "the legal issues" of the last few years. 2002-03 Chicago Steel #6 Josh Elzinga: 2004-05 Kalamazoo Wings #3 Josh Elzinga: 2005-06 Kalamazoo Wings #3 Josh Elzinga "We had two defensemen hurt; otherwise we woulda won," A.J. For himself he built a skybox equipped with a kitchenette. Having played over a decade in the ECHL including four seasons playing at the AHL level (Worcester IceCats, Grand Rapids Griffins, Lowell Lock Monsters, and Rochester Americans), his eight seasons with the Florida Everblades culminated in the team Captain having his iconic #9 jersey retired. In many ways, the first round of that postseason was the high point: the Trashers versus the Frostbite, best of seven. Marc's professional athletic career includes: For 10 years John was the Director of Top Shelf Hockey. IT WAS A SPECIAL EXPERIENCE.". In 2003, from their desks above what was once center ice, agents began investigating Jimmy Galante. Still, the joy of playing the sport makes her feel, in her own words, on top of the world, far outweighing any pain she has endured. More information about Marc can be found atwww.OptimumAthlete.com. Follow. Brad WingfieldWingnutchallenged Elzinga: Drop em; lets get it on. But they also swap remember-that-time-when stories about those two years they ran that crazy-assed hockey team. , New Brunswick, Canada, Gilles Richard is the current Vice-President of Hockey Operations for Southeast Elite Hockey. Rupp had played two seasons in the NHL and had even scored the decisive goal for the Devils in the 2003 Stanley Cup finals. He knows how to treat people. On Dec. 3, 2005, Kalamazoo visited Danbury. He was a star in the UHL, having scored 43 goals for the Port Huron Beacons the previous season. Federal authorities had grown interested in the Connecticut waste-management industry. Jason Chen explains the effect in depth before New Jersey plays Wednesday. After hearing ESPN hockey commentator Barry Melrose, a co-owner of the Frostbite, trash the Trashers on the radio, an enraged A.J. Throughout his busy professional career, he has also participated in numerous hockey schools around the country. Its all Ive known for my whole life, she said. The fans in section 102 who had once heckled him for his one eye instantly embraced him. The UHL had a salary cap that limited teams to a total of approximately $275,000 for the whole roster. On Oct. 15, Jimmy began serving his time. what happened to josh elzinga hockey. It wasnt a crisis, but it was a drag. "You can't have him," Roanoke Valley's GM responded. The rowdiest spectators were cordoned off in Section 102, directly behind the visitors bench. He'd already played 12 seasons of pro hockey: a total of 13 games in the NHL, followed by years of wandering the minors. My dad wasnt too happy, and in so many words I was told, We need a fucking scorer. I was on spring break from college, and my break consisted of me in my room researching I didnt really have any relationships with other hockey people. (I wanted to bring something back to the community, Galante told me when I spoke with him in February.) In the late 1990s Galante had been sentenced to a year and a day in a federal prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion. The team played in the Wings Stadium. She was loving it, said Vogel. The teenage sports exec became an irresistible media story. The result was a kind of frontier justice. AJ spent the summer after his senior year assembling a roster. They happily agreed. Most teams rode in a rickety, Partridge Familystyle bus. Barely 50 games into the season Stirling, the coach, was suspended for three games for failing to control his players. They loved playing for Jimmy, because he took care of them. I remember being elated, guys tumbling over the boards like wed won the Stanley Cup. The Trashers went on to win that series, but lost the next. The 200405 UHL season coincided with the NHL lockout. Like any father, you want to be able to do something for your son.. ago] Height 5.11 -- Weight 175 [180 cm/79 kg] Embed Josh Elzinga stats! His accomplishments includeover 30 wins across the World, along with competing with Team USA at World Championships. He made some contacts, hung out in gyms in the Northeast, met some promoters and trainers, and so far he has represented three fighters. "It was loud," says A.J., "and security was very, let's just say, flexible." Most recently in the AAHL with Chicago Blaze. just landed Galarza his first TV fight, on Showtime's ShoBox series, and an endorsement deal with the apparel company Rival Boxing. But in other corners the Galantesand the desperadoes on ice they brought to townare still recalled fondly. The league set an annual salary cap of $275,000, with a $2 luxury tax for every dollar spent above the threshold. Something was off-brand, faded; he was like a dollar bill thatd been through the wash. Hed already played 12 seasons of pro hockey: a total of 13 games in the NHL, followed by years of wandering the minors. 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. Elzinga declined, but as Wingfield skated away, Elzinga pulled on his jersey and stuck out a foot to trip him. The Trashers would sell out the arena regularly as fans of various ethnicities, ages and collars converged to cheer them on. Get access to our unique free agency lists and many more premium features, Drafted 2001, 4 #48 overall by Cedar Rapids Roughriders in the USHL Entry Draft, Drafted 2000, 8 #157 overall by Windsor Spitfires in the OHL Priority Selection. Residents greeted the new hockey team with considerable excitement. While David-Alexandre Beauregard was no goon, he fit into the Danbury menagerie. recalls, "even the commissioner was like, 'I would advise against that. He fights with heart. A.J. A small town has its lawns and picket fences and wholesome values, a big town its go-getters and civic fathers. - Ability to add additional data to your career profile: Videos, Images, Social Media, Referrals, Fitness Testing Results and much more! That May they played their hated rival, Kalamazoo, in the Colonial Cup finals. So in 2004 Galante sank his money into the hockey equivalent of Double A ball. You in? DeLuca pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of threatening. Wingnut went down awkwardly, and a crack could be heard in every part of the arena: Wingnuts left tibia and fibula. And the fans, from section 102 and beyond, still miss their team. Whether people deny it or not, everyone loves a hockey fight.. The first was the famed Quebec League (officially the Ligue Nord-Amricaine de Hockey), which can be thought of as an aquarium stocked with fighting fish: young goons and old goons, bald goons and goons with mullets. In the first period Wagner instigated a fight, and an all-out brawl broke out. Mario Larocque was different: Hed been taken in the first round of the 1996 NHL draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning. That matchup was marred by a brawl that kicked off when Trashers left winger Brad Wingfield attempted to fight Kalamazoo's Josh Elzinga, who declined the invitation. One night, he got into a shouting match with a stranger who turned out to be the visiting teams general managerthe result being a call to AJ from Richard Brosal, the UHL commissioner, followed by a short suspension. The Trashers featured some of the most storied names in hockey violence. 117 followers. Jimmy was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault. But for many, the highlight had come earlier in the season, when Wingnut got his revenge. made connections over the summer with agents, scouts and middlemen who could deliver that goalie from Manitoba or that playmaker from Quebec. 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. "Frank would have been a hell of a Danbury Trasher," A.J. A.J. about getting back into sports. pursues his new sports passion, boxing management. A.J. A tale of goons, no-show jobs, and a legendary minor-league franchise that helped land its owner in prison. I wouldnt look for the most penalty minutes, he told me. A case involving a minor-league hockey team also nailed Matty the Horse. 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. While other UHL franchises were notorious for penny-pinching, the Trashers traveled in a luxe team bus. He's crazy.' After signing Gretzky, he went for Jim Duhart, the Crash Davis of minor-league hockey. Hockey Fights is an entertainment site with no direct affiliation to the National Hockey League, its teams, or NHLPA. They also saw the Trashers as a kind of validation: Someone believes in Danbury. When the 2004--05 lockout ended, Rupp returned to the NHL and is still playing, for the Wild. Coach Ernie's interest in athletic performance development stems from his extensive career competing in ice hockey. Stirling avoided jail time after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud. Yet in some ways Galantes biography seemed unlike that of a traditional hood.

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