FHL Expands to Berlin

[Sports Enthusiast]

Would love the Trashmen in the ECHL though they probably would operate differently sadly.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Convicted felon, what's your point? Martha Stewart is a convicted felon to lol. Felon is just a mark of a bad choice, you know how many people commit a felony and think nothing of it because many vague laws a felonies. Danbury was actually eyed for an ECHL a team before the UHLS arrival. The original plan for the arena in Danbury was a 4500 seat building.

A bad choice? Parking in a handicapped spot is a bad choice.

Let's run through what your buddy Jimmy Galante did, because either you don't remember or you don't know.

Galante was investigated for racketeering - being part of a long-term criminal conspiracy for the benefit of a group of people - such as the Genovese crime family. Remember them? That's who Galante was working with.

He was indicted by a grand jury on 93 counts of fraud, extortion, conspiracy, and racketeering. He was linked to conspiracies to commit arson and kidnapping and to extort competing business owners.

That's not a bad choice, or even a series of bad choices. That's a criminal mastermind who knew exactly what he was doing.

And "vagary of the law" is not a defense here. The RICO statute and laws against conspiracy, anti-competitive business practices, arson, extortion, money laundering - all the things Galante was accused of doing - are by no means vague.

--

As to your second point, about the original plan to build a 4,500 seat arena, well, that would have been nice if it happened. But it didn't, and until it does, Danbury will not have pro hockey run by a competent ownership group.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

If you're still unsure as to whether Galante "made a bad choice" or was part of a criminal enterprise that victimized consumers of carting service across Fairfield County, Conn., Westchester County, N.Y., and a few other areas, check out the FBI's description of Galante's scheme.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2008/november/galante_110408

This is not "the mark of a bad choice."

Galante has no business ever, under any circumstances, operating a professional hockey team again in any reputable league - although it's arguable that Brosal's UHL wasn't exactly reputable anyway.

 

[Nightsquad]

A bad choice? Parking in a handicapped spot is a bad choice.

Let's run through what your buddy Jimmy Galante did, because either you don't remember or you don't know.

Galante was investigated for racketeering - being part of a long-term criminal conspiracy for the benefit of a group of people - such as the Genovese crime family. Remember them? That's who Galante was working with.

He was indicted by a grand jury on 93 counts of fraud, extortion, conspiracy, and racketeering. He was linked to conspiracies to commit arson and kidnapping and to extort competing business owners.

That's not a bad choice, or even a series of bad choices. That's a criminal mastermind who knew exactly what he was doing.

And "vagary of the law" is not a defense here. The RICO statute and laws against conspiracy, anti-competitive business practices, arson, extortion, money laundering - all the things Galante was accused of doing - are by no means vague.

--

As to your second point, about the original plan to build a 4,500 seat arena, well, that would have been nice if it happened. But it didn't, and until it does, Danbury will not have pro hockey run by a competent ownership group.

Don't get me started on the vague and overreaching RICO laws. I don't want to discuss legal matters here in a hockey forum, no place for it. This country has more police, more laws, more people incarcerated then any other nation. Not here to discuss pro big bully police rhetoric. Back on the topic at hand, the Trashers could have easily played with many AHL teams of today, As far as the current Whalers, they were not run by incompetent people by any means, just the whole costs thrusts on them for security details was the issues....Of course after all the local police bullies have to get their overtime in pad their excessive salaries, the arena should have picked up the costs. The system is designed so that cities get their cuts.... The Whalers were run by good hearted people with nothing but good intentions, no the city will pay the price with lost revenue for downtown businesses. It's about time government ease up on its citizenry.

 

[royals119]

Of course the Trashers had good teams, Galante felt the rules didn't apply to him. He exceeded the salary cap, and then provided players with even more benefits beyond their salary to entice good players. As long as you are willing to spend lots of money, and cheat, you can field a dominant team.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Don't get me started on the vague and overreaching RICO laws. I don't want to discuss legal matters here in a hockey forum, no place for it. This country has more police, more laws, more people incarcerated then any other nation. Not here to discuss pro big bully police rhetoric. Back on the topic at hand, the Trashers could have easily played with many AHL teams of today, As far as the current Whalers, they were not run by incompetent people by any means, just the whole costs thrusts on them for security details was the issues....Of course after all the local police bullies have to get their overtime in pad their excessive salaries, the arena should have picked up the costs. The system is designed so that cities get their cuts.... The Whalers were run by good hearted people with nothing but good intentions, no the city will pay the price with lost revenue for downtown businesses. It's about time government ease up on its citizenry.

Why can't you face the fact that Galante is crook? He conspired with the mob to rip people - citizens - off for hundreds of millions of dollars over the years by controlling the market for waste services. That's a settled fact.

Law enforcement should be after RICO conspirators and drug kingpins. They shouldn't be after regular Joes trying to live their lives. There's a big difference between Galante and someone locked up for a dime bag of weed. Actions like Galante's hurt society as a whole.

And in regards to security, yeah, the city had to get theirs, which is too bad. But at the same time, Danbury had a well-earned reputation of being filled with drunken, rowdy fans - which takes away from the whole "family entertainment" concept.

Compete with AHL teams, maybe - but again, they didn't do it on the level. Galante had such a deep-seated need to win - in the trash business and in the hockey business - that he'd cheat to do it. He's pathetic, and those who worship him as some kind of martyr to the system are too.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

Don't get me started on the vague and overreaching RICO laws. I don't want to discuss legal matters here in a hockey forum, no place for it. This country has more police, more laws, more people incarcerated then any other nation. Not here to discuss pro big bully police rhetoric. Back on the topic at hand, the Trashers could have easily played with many AHL teams of today, As far as the current Whalers, they were not run by incompetent people by any means, just the whole costs thrusts on them for security details was the issues....Of course after all the local police bullies have to get their overtime in pad their excessive salaries, the arena should have picked up the costs. The system is designed so that cities get their cuts.... The Whalers were run by good hearted people with nothing but good intentions, no the city will pay the price with lost revenue for downtown businesses. It's about time government ease up on its citizenry.

Good Stuff

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3646723

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/01/29/former-danbury-trashers-gm-a-j-galante-on-toucher-rich/

http://i95rock.com/former-danbury-trashers-owner-jim-galante-speaks-out-photos/

http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Brian-Koonz-A-new-start-for-Galante-6312956.php

A few Trashers articles for those who might be interested.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Of course the Trashers had good teams, Galante felt the rules didn't apply to him. He exceeded the salary cap, and then provided players with even more benefits beyond their salary to entice good players. As long as you are willing to spend lots of money, and cheat, you can field a dominant team.

Wasn't the only one. I'd guess Muskegon and Fort Whine cheated the cap. I know in their hayday Quad City did...but that was the league too. Also wouldn't be shocked if Kalamazoo and Richmond did as well. Part of me wants to believe Afr did.

 

[royals119]

We had some former Trashers in Reading. It was a little bit of an adjustment for them. "Oh, I have to pay for stuff here? In Danbury we got everything paid for." Meals, transportation, medical care, glasses and contacts, etc etc. Plus they, or their wife/girlfriend, had a "job" with one of Galante's companies, and they got paid for that too. I've heard the UHL didn't enforce their salary cap, but I don't think everyone was cheating to the same extent.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

We had some former Trashers in Reading. It was a little bit of an adjustment for them. "Oh, I have to pay for stuff here? In Danbury we got everything paid for." Meals, transportation, medical care, glasses and contacts, etc etc. Plus they, or their wife/girlfriend, had a "job" with one of Galante's companies, and they got paid for that too. I've heard the UHL didn't enforce their salary cap, but I don't think everyone was cheating to the same extent.

It wasn't just that Galante cheated on the salary cap - it was that he did it on such an extravagant scale. Players' wives had six-figure no-show jobs. Players got brown bags full of cash. The prosecutors estimated the team's payroll to be close to $750K per season - roughly three times the UHL's salary cap. That info is sourced from contemporaneous media reports as well as court documents.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

You had to cheat to win or be competitive in the UHL. For that I believe any franchise who was good was cheating to some degree.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

It wasn't just that Galante cheated on the salary cap - it was that he did it on such an extravagant scale. Players' wives had six-figure no-show jobs. Players got brown bags full of cash. The prosecutors estimated the team's payroll to be close to $750K per season - roughly three times the UHL's salary cap. That info is sourced from contemporaneous media reports as well as court documents.

Sounds like when ESPN did their 30 For 30 last fall entitled "Playing For The Mob" they wasted it on the real life Goodfellas story that everyone knows when they has this gem going on near ESPN's backyard ironically.