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52-505: In their first season, the Trashers quickly gained notoriety for their bullish, physical style of play, setting a league record for penalty minutes. The season witnessed two separate brawls and multiple player suspensions. Danbury finished second in its division and was eliminated in the playoffs by the Muskegon Fury , the eventual Colonial Cup champions. In their second year, the Trashers won

104-560: A 3,000 seat facility. Galante envisioned a physical team with a "bad-boy image" and to become the "Evil Empire of the UHL". To that end he brought in tough guys, Garrett Burnett , Rumun Ndur , and Brad Wingfield , who previously set a UHL record for penalty minutes (PIMs) during the 2002–03 season with 576. He also brought in skill players such as Jim Duhart, who led the UHL in scoring the previous season, former National Hockey League (NHL) player Brent Gretzky , and Michael Rupp , who played for

156-565: A UHL record PIMs at 2,776. In the first round of the playoffs, they faced off against the Frostbite, winning the series in six games. In the second round, Danbury faced the Muskegon Fury , who led the Central Division with 111 points. The Trashers were eliminated in five games by Muskegon, who went on to win the league championship, the Colonial Cup . At season's end the Trashers were announced

208-408: A black-and-white vertically striped shirt. They wear standard hockey skates and carry a finger whistle , which they use to stop play. They communicate with players, coaches, and off-ice officials, both verbally and via hand signals. Starting in 1955 with the introduction of the black-and-white jersey, NHL on-ice officials wore numbers on their back for identification. In 1977, NHL officials removed

260-508: A brawl, in which Ndur fought with two players, attempted to kick a linesman , and charged the Wings bench, before the officials were able to subdue him. His actions led to a 20-game suspension by the league, while the Kalamazoo player received five games. Upset with the officiating, James Galante went down to ice level to voice his opinion. Galante entered the ice via the penalty box where he got into

312-470: A goal is scored, which are done at the center ice face-off dot. If a goal is challenged, the referee or referees are the ones who review the play. Linesmen or linespersons are primarily responsible for watching for violations involving the centre line and the blue line . Such infractions include icing and offside , after which the linesmen conduct faceoffs . They are also expected to break up scuffles, fistfights and other altercations that occur during

364-518: A hockey game. The teams combined for 106 penalty minutes in the first period and 6 game-misconducts were issued in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Trashers would go on to win the game 4–2. The Trashers struggled towards the end of the season having both a four and three game losing streak and posting a 2–6–2 record. Danbury finished the regular season with 95 points, second place in the Eastern Division, nine points behind Adirondack. They also set

416-509: A league or hockey association logo, such as sport coats or athletic jackets. In the mid-2000s, the National Hockey League relocated goal judges to higher locations (most commonly the press box, a catwalk or the lower section of the upper deck) with wireless signals. The idea was to allow teams to sell the prime seats, but also to give officials a better view of the action as to be able to reject goals if violations (illegally kicked in,

468-567: A player in the crease, offside) took place. However, with the expansion of video replay and the addition of a second referee on the ice, the role of the goal judge became relegated to activating the goal lights. The league ceased using goal judges after the 2018–2019 season. The video goal judge now activates the goal lights from the video replay booth. Goal judges were first used around 1877 in Montreal, and were initially called umpires. The video goal judge reviews replays of disputed goals. As

520-563: A regulation loss going 11–0–3. Danbury finished the season strong with a seven-game win streak in March and finished the year on a six-game win streak. The winning steaks helped Danbury win the Eastern Division finishing with 107 points, nine ahead of Adirondack. In the first round the Trashers faced off against Gillis's former team, the Mallards. Although the Trashers began the playoffs as the second seed , they had lost both regular season match-ups with

572-480: A shouting match with a linesman and allegedly punched him. For his actions Galante was charged with misdemeanor assault and fined by the UHL for leaving the owner's box. The UHL stated that because of the disturbances on the ice they could not determine what actually happened. The linesman was suspended for five games for his part in the altercation. He later asked that the assault charges against Galante be dropped. After this request, prosecutors still intended to pursue

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624-456: A single playoff year with 511. In June 2006, James Galante was charged with 72 various charges including racketeering . One of the charges that pertained directly to the Trashers was wire fraud , which resulted from the interstate faxing of fraudulent salary cap documents. The Trashers had circumvented the UHLs $ 275,000 annual salary cap by giving players or their wives no-show positions within one of

676-655: The Battle Creek Revolution of the AAHL served as the farm team affiliate. NOTE: The league's name has changed over the years from the Colonial Hockey League (until 1997), United Hockey League (1997–2007), and the International Hockey League (2007–2010). Linesman (ice hockey) In ice hockey , an official is a person who has some responsibility for enforcing the rules and maintaining

728-531: The Danbury Hat Tricks ( Federal Prospects Hockey League ) play at Danbury Ice Arena. The story of James Galante and the Danbury Trashers was covered in the 2021 Netflix documentary Untold: Crimes & Penalties . It will be the subject of a feature film, titled The Trashers , from director Cooper Raiff , with David Harbour and Cooper Hoffman set to star as James and AJ Galante. The story of

780-602: The Quad City Mallards in six games. The Fury would win their second title in 2002 . Despite finishing third in their division during the 2003–04 season , the Fury would win their third championship by going undefeated through all eleven games of the three playoff series to claiming the Colonial Cup. They won the regular season championship in 2004–05 and a back-to-back Colonial Cup championship. On August 30, 2006, Bruce Ramsay

832-644: The 2009–10 season. The announcement coincided with the United States Hockey League awarding an expansion team to Muskegon taking on the name Muskegon Lumberjacks . On June 23, 2010, the International Hockey League announced that Ron Geary had finalized the transaction to purchase the Muskegon Lumberjacks' IHL franchise from the IHL and move it to Evansville, Indiana , as the Evansville IceMen at

884-583: The Eastern Division and reached the finals, but lost the championship to the Kalamazoo Wings , handing them their only loss of the playoffs. At the end of the team's second season, Galante was arrested on 72 criminal charges, including conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). He pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 87 months in prison, and had to forfeit his ownership interests in 25 trash-hauling companies. During

936-564: The Fury, would not let that tradition end. Lisman kept his vow to keep hockey in Muskegon by establishing the Fury in the one-season-old Colonial Hockey League (CoHL). The Fury made it to the Colonial Cup finals in their third season after losing in the first round of the playoffs after their first two seasons. However, they lost to the Thunder Bay Senators in six games. In the 1995–96 season , they won their division but were upset in

988-469: The Mallards. Danbury lost the first two games of the seven-game series at home and were facing Games 3–5 on the road. The Trashers won Games 3 and 4 to tie the series before losing game five. Facing elimination, Danbury won the final two games to win the series in seven games and advance to the second round. The second round was a rematch with Muskegon. The Trashers took a 3–2 series lead into Game 6, which went to triple-overtime before Danbury finally eliminated

1040-469: The NHL was formed (1917), the referees would carry a bell, not a whistle, to stop the game in progress. Later, NHL referees wore cream-colored sweaters over a shirt and tie, from the 1930s to the early 1950s. They then briefly wore orange sweaters with half-zip fronts (and without neckties), until the black-and-white-striped jersey was introduced in 1955. A referee is responsible for the general supervision of

1092-562: The NHL, the green light is activated only when the game clock reads 00.0 seconds: in lower levels, the green light may be linked to the scoreboard's siren or turn on whenever the time is stopped. In games governed by the IIHF, goal judges wear the same black-and-white striped shirts as on-ice officials. This is not the case for goal judges in North America for games under different hockey codes: their goal judges are usually dressed in apparel bearing

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1144-403: The Trashers to finish second in the league. The Trashers first season began with the team playing around .500 hockey . Then a quarter of the way through the 2004–05 season they went on a seven-game unbeaten streak that moved them into first place in the Eastern Division. The streak was part of nine consecutive games without a regulation loss. This lifted the Trashers into a tie for first place in

1196-521: The Trashers was also the subject of the Novel podcast series The Fighty Pucks . Muskegon Fury The Muskegon Lumberjacks was an International Hockey League ice hockey team located in Muskegon, Michigan . After the 2010 season, the team folded and Ron Geary, the owner of the Evansville IceMen of the AAHL , purchased the franchise rights of the former Muskegon Lumberjacks from the IHL. Geary then moved

1248-439: The authority to assess penalties for violations of the rules. When a penalty is being assessed the referee will stand at center ice and announce the penalty to the entire arena. However, the linesmen can report a variety of penalties, such as too many men on the ice and major penalties, to the referee, who may then assess the penalty. The referee also conducts the opening face-off in each period and face-offs that follow after

1300-538: The charges, but eventually dropped them citing a lack of evidence. After the brawl, the Trashers went 8–2–0 in their next 10 games. A second brawl occurred months later in a game versus the Adirondack Frostbite . At the end of the brawl, the Trashers' Chad Wagner was being removed from the ice by the linesmen when he broke away, and attacked the Adirondack bench, grabbing their head coach, Marc Potvin . Compounding

1352-462: The communication link with Toronto is not working, and also for other situations such as timing or proper statistic attribution. The official scorer keeps the official record of the game. They are responsible for obtaining a list of eligible players from both teams prior to the start of the game. They award points for goals and assists , and their decision in this regard is final. The official scorer typically sits in an elevated position away from

1404-788: The conclusion of the 2009–10 IHL season. However, the IHL would not play another season and the remaining teams, including the new IceMen, joined the Central Hockey League. From 2008 to 2010, the Lumberjacks were affiliated with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League (AHL). In 2008, the Evansville IceMen of the All American Hockey League (AAHL) served as a farm team affiliate. In 2009,

1456-482: The controversy, the Trashers disbanded. Adirondack failed to secure an arena lease and disbanded with their closest geographical competitor gone. Danbury folded over financial concerns, including travel costs. The players from both Danbury and Adirondack were placed into a dispersal draft and selected by the remaining teams in the UHL. Afterwards, the Danbury market was served by a string of short-lived teams; as of 2023 only

1508-453: The defending champions. In the finals, the Trashers faced the Kalamazoo Wings , who had not lost a game in the playoffs. Danbury lost Game 1 of the series, but rebounded to defeat the Wings in Game 2. It proved to be the only game that the Wings lost in the postseason that year, as they won the next three games to capture the championship. During the finals, Daigle set a UHL record for most saves in

1560-448: The disposal companies or giving them housing allowance checks for sums which had already been paid. Estimates were that the Trashers had exceeded the salary cap by $ 475,000 making the total payroll closer to $ 750,000. For his part in aiding with violating the salary cap, former head coach Stirling was also charged with wire fraud. He pleaded guilty and was given five years probation. Galante pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate

1612-420: The exception of the video goal judge in professional leagues, do not have any direct impact on the outcome of the game. They serve primarily in administrative and advisory roles. The goal judge determines whether a player has scored a goal by watching to see if the puck has crossed the goal line completely. They act only in an advisory role; the referee has the sole authority to award goals and thus can override

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1664-519: The federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), one count of conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service , and one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced to 87 months of imprisonment and had to forfeit his ownership interests in 25 trash hauling companies, a Southbury residence, six racing cars, a trailer used to haul them, and $ 448,153.10 in cash seized from his business office and home. Amid

1716-644: The first round to the Detroit Falcons in five games. Erin Whitten, one of the few female hockey players to play professionally, played for the Fury during the 1995–96 season before being traded to the Flint Generals . The CoHL was renamed the United Hockey League in 1997. In the 1998–99 season , the Fury finished with the best record during the regular season and won their first Colonial Cup by defeating

1768-511: The franchise to Evansville, Indiana where they became the Evansville IceMen . The Muskegon Fury were an International Hockey League ice hockey team located in Muskegon, Michigan . The team's colors were teal , purple , and black . The Fury were established in 1992 after the original Muskegon Lumberjacks of the previous International Hockey League relocated to Cleveland, Ohio . Up to that point, hockey had been in Muskegon for 32 consecutive seasons and Tony Lisman, owner and president of

1820-596: The franchising rights after seeing the enthusiasm for hockey in Danbury at his son A.J.'s high school games. He also wanted to give A.J. experience in how to manage a professional sports franchise, naming him president and General Manager . A.J. was a 17-year-old high school student at the time and according to UHL commissioner Richard Brosal, some around the league thought it was an April Fools' Day joke. After graduating high school, Galante attended Manhattanville College while maintaining his organizational duties. The new team

1872-415: The game and can be identified by the orange armbands on his or her arms. Ice hockey is a fast-paced sport with high-velocity shots of a puck that is only a few inches in diameter; therefore referees aim to position themselves so they have specific unobstructed views of plays in order to make crucial judgment calls as accurately as possible. Under most officiating systems, the referee is the only official with

1924-548: The game. In some leagues, the rules allow linesmen to call some penalties (such as Too many men on the ice ), while others only allow them to report the infraction to the referee. In some leagues, the linesmen are given the title of the assistant referee. When given this title, they are given more responsibility to stop play and to call penalties that the referee may not see. The NCAA previously used this designation prior to altering its officiating systems in 2006. Off-ice officials , formerly referred to as 'Minor Officials' with

1976-408: The issue, two other Trashers players left the penalty box and skated towards the bench. A third player sucker punched an opponent, breaking his nose. For his part in the brawl, Wagner was banned from the UHL while the two players, who left the penalty box, received 5 and 10 game suspensions, respectively, and the third player was suspended for the remainder of the season and playoffs. Head coach Stirling

2028-453: The league. During the winning streak one of two brawls of the season occurred. In a game against the Kalamazoo Wings on December 1, Wingfield attempted to instigate a fight after an altercation with a Wings player. The player refused to fight, but as Wingfield skated away the player grabbed Wingfield's jersey and pulled him back over an outstretched leg. Wingfield's skate caught on the ice as he fell backwards breaking his ankle. The play incited

2080-420: The number and had only their surnames on the back of their jerseys for identification, normally in a single row across the shoulders. (Some officials with long names would have their name in two rows, the most notable example being Andy Van Hellemond . ) However, in 1994, NHL officials returned to wearing solely numbers on their shirts, a procedure adopted by other sports leagues. In the early days of hockey when

2132-410: The opinion of the goal judge. One goal judge is positioned outside the rink directly behind each goal net. For arenas so equipped, the goal judge turns on a red light behind the goal to signal a score. The red goal light and the adjacent green light are connected to the arena game clock. When the clock operator stops the clock, or the time remaining expires, the red light is not able to be activated. In

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2184-400: The order of the game. There are two categories of officials, on-ice officials , who are the referees and linesmen that enforce the rules during gameplay, and off-ice officials , who have an administrative role rather than an enforcement role. As the name implies, on-ice officials do their job on the hockey rink . They are traditionally clad in a black hockey helmet , black trousers, and

2236-586: The puck deflected into the goal by a high stick (stick above the goal) by an attacking player. All NHL goals are subject to review, and although most arenas have a video goal judge, officials from the NHL Hockey Operations Department, located in the Situation Room (also known as the "War Room") at the NHL office in Toronto , will often make the final decision. Arena video goal judges are used in case

2288-460: The referee does not have access to television monitors, the video goal judge's decision on disputed goals is taken as final. In the NHL , goals may only be reviewed in the following situations: puck crossing the goal line completely and before time expired, puck in the net prior to goal frame being dislodged, puck being directed into the net by hand or foot, the puck deflected into the net off an official, and

2340-522: The same time, the Trashers disbanded, citing financial concerns including travel costs. The Danbury Trashers were founded as an expansion team in the United Hockey League (UHL) on April 1, 2004, by James Galante , a garbage disposal mogul, who paid a $ 500,000 franchise fee to the league. Galante had considered investing in the New Haven Knights prior to the franchise folding. He purchased

2392-484: The season with two shootout games, winning one and losing the other. Despite earning three out of a possible four points, Gillis was unhappy with the team's performance. His concerns were later proved accurate as Danbury started the year with a 4–5–2 record. The Trashers hovered around the .500 mark going into December where they started the month with a six-game win streak that brought them within five points of first place in Eastern Division. They finished December without

2444-557: The team during the 2004–05 NHL lockout . For the goaltender Galante acquired Scott Stirling, who was the Most Valuable Player of the ECHL the previous season. As for the coaches, Todd Stirling, son of former New York Islanders head coach Steve Stirling and brother of Scott, was named head coach. A.J.'s former high school head coach, Bob Stearns, was hired as an assistant coach. After the team had been assembled The Hockey News picked

2496-601: The team's name from the Muskegon Fury to the Lumberjacks to reflect back on what many remember as the glory days of hockey in Muskegon. Head coach Bruce Ramsay resigned after the 2008–09 season to become the head coach of the Tulsa Oilers in the Central Hockey League . Ramsay was replaced for the 2009–10 season by Rich Kromm. On February 8, 2010 it was announced that the Lumberjacks franchise would fold following

2548-921: The winners of the UHL's Merchandiser of the Year Award. In the off-season the Trashers changed head coaches, bringing in Paul Gillis , who had coached the Quad City Mallards the previous season. Stirling remained with the team in a scouting and consulting role. They also brought in a new goaltender, Sylvain Daigle, who had won three Colonial Cups with the Fury. Daigle was taken by the Port Huron Flags in an expansion draft and traded to Danbury for their top goal scorer Mike Bayrack . They also reached an agreement to have all of their games broadcast on local ESPN Radio affiliated stations and to have select games broadcast on tape delay locally on Comcast Cable . The Trashers began

2600-468: Was also suspended three games for not being able to control his players. It was the sixteenth time the league had suspended a Trashers player. Danbury again found success after the brawl going 8–3–0 in their next 11 games. On February 23, 2005, the Trashers again hosted the Adirondack Frostbite. World Wrestling Entertainment superstar John Cena was on hand for what resembled more of a WWE event than

2652-458: Was named the Trashers, a reference to the elder Galante's main business, with the logo being designed by A.J.'s friends. The Trashers were to play in the Danbury Ice Arena , a 750-seat ice rink, used for the local hockey leagues. As part of the franchising agreement the arena needed the maximum capacity expanded. Galante invested an additional $ 1.5 million to renovate the arena, turning it into

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2704-489: Was named the head coach for the 2006–07 season , replacing Todd Nelson who had accepted the assistant coaching position for the Chicago Wolves a few days earlier after three head coaching seasons in Muskegon. In 2007, the United Hockey League changed names again to the International Hockey League in honor of the now defunct league. On September 12, 2008, new owners Stacey Patulskey, Jeff Patulskey and Tim Taylor changed

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