United Hockey League - Danbury Trashers

Danbury Trashers Unveil Name, Logo

City officially becomes part of hockey league

Mark Langlois
The News-Times

DANBURY — A.J. Galante looked forward to his senior year on the New Fairfield High School hockey team. But bad luck grabbed him. In the season's third game the co-captain caught his skate in a rut and tore cartilage behind his kneecap. Galante's high school hockey playing days are over. But his career in professional hockey management is just beginning. At a news conference Thursday, city officials and business leaders announced the arrival of the Danbury Trashers, a new minor league hockey team and the first pro sports franchise in the city's history. Galante, 18, was introduced as the team president. His father, James Galante, owner of AWD trash hauling, is the owner of the team. "I wanted to be involved, and I was. I woke up today and it just takes you by surprise. It's for real now," said A.J. Galante, who will attend Manhattanville College this fall to study business. "It's just unbelievable." Danbury area sports fans might have the same thought. Promised an ice rink in the 1990s, they waited nearly a decade for the proposal to become reality. Promised a minor league baseball team last summer, they have heard city officials speak of challenges in working out funding for a stadium. So it's understandable some folks were skeptical when reports surfaced last week that Danbury might get a professional hockey team. But on Thursday, the city joined the growing ranks of American communities with minor league sports franchises.

Though the National Hockey League is struggling financially, minor league hockey has flourished in the past decade. There are more than 100 teams in U.S. and Canadian cities ranging from Amarillo, Texas, to Atlantic City, N.J., from Baton Rouge, La., to Kalamazoo, Mich. "We're ready to play hockey in Danbury," said Mayor Mark Boughton. He credited the Galante family, the UHL, the Danbury Ice Arena and city officials with working together to bring the team to town. The Trashers will play their first regular season game Oct. 15 at the Danbury Ice Arena. The Trashers will play in the United Hockey League, which has franchises in New York state, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri and Virginia. Tickets to UHL games generally cost between $6 and $15, though it varies by team. Connecticut already has minor league hockey teams in Bridgeport and Hartford. Both are in the American Hockey League, the top minor league of the National Hockey League. The UHL, which had a team in New Haven from 2000-2002, is considered a step or two below that. The Trashers' arrival will bring major changes to the three-year-old Danbury Ice Arena. Between 1,000 and 1,500 seats will be added to the 650-seat rink. Architectural planning for the expansion will begin in the next two weeks. Additionally, James Galante and others floated the idea that if the team is successful, a new, bigger arena could be built in the future on the city's west side, perhaps near the baseball stadium. "It's better to start small and succeed than to fail large," Galante said in a recent interview. "If the interest is here, we can talk about building an arena." James Galante said he's been a hockey fan for years. He began exploring the idea of bringing a professional team to Danbury in the 1990s, when a New Haven minor league franchise was struggling to draw fans. That deal didn't pan out, and Galante began negotiations with the UHL more than two years ago. Two things helped seal the deal. The first is that a UHL team in Columbus, Ohio, folded this year, opening up a spot in the league. The second was his son's injury. Galante said he was glad to find a way to keep A.J. involved in the game after his injury. But James Galante said he's just as excited for other young people in the community who will be able to see professional games. He also spoke of players running hockey clinics for children. Minor league hockey, he said, "is growing, growing, growing." The region's business leaders hope the team will generate excitement and tax revenue. "People are already talking about this in Brookfield. They're talking about the junior Trashers," a youth team that would be associated with the pro team, said James Bellano, director of the Housatonic Valley Economic Development Partnership. "The multiplier effect of this team will be huge. Hockey is huge." UHL Commissioner Richard Brosal said the team should help pump $250,000 into Danbury's economy between October and May. "People have a passion for this game," Brosal said. "You're going to get booster clubs coming into town to support their team. They're also going to support your restaurants and your hotels. They're going to be paying taxes." The Danbury Ice Arena has two rinks. Bleachers flank one side of one rink. Greg Lockard, president of Floyd Hall Enterprises, which owns the arena, said new seats could be added to the floor around the rink, above the existing seats and at both ends of the ice. He also said some luxury boxes may be created where a balcony now sits. "The costs, who pays, all has to be worked out," Lockard said. "The rental agreement isn't final yet. We have to continue talking about it." The team doesn't have any players yet. It does, however, have a coach in J. Todd Stirling, whose father, Steve Stirling, is the head coach of the NHL's New York Islanders. The younger Stirling has worked as a scout for the Islanders and is vice president of Puckmasters, a hockey training facility in Norwood, Mass. The team also has A.J. Galante as the president. He has some unfinished business to take care of before he starts his job. He's scheduled to have surgery on his knee today. Doctors will take out cartilage, harvest it in the laboratory and replace it in a few months. But on Thursday, the younger Galante pondered his hockey future and said: "I'm feeling good right now."

Contact Mark Langlois
at mlanglois@newstimes.com
or at (203) 731-3337.

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