May 18, 2023 • 36 mins
AJ and Jimmy are a father and son team on a mission, to create a unique type of sports team - as violent as they are skillful. But with the hockey season about to start, how are they supposed to build a professional sports team from scratch?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Novel.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
When trash magnet Jimmy Galante dreamed up a brand new
pro hockey team and gave it to his son, he
was never going to simply walk away and let the
kid get on with it. That just wasn't his style.
Jimmy decided AJ would be the face of it. It
would be a good marketing move to have a teenage
at front and center, and sure j could run thing
(00:36):
stay today, but Jimmy would still be heavily involved behind
the scenes, controlling the money and pulling any strings necessary
to help the team secure victory. But like every partnership,
these two faced an age old dilemma. What happens when
they can't even agree on the basics, like say, the
(00:57):
name of their team.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I hated it at first.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
The Trash is named after the Galante families trash dynasty.
Jimmy was set on it.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
You know, obviously had all the trash companies, and I
guess maybe because I've been around garbage and trash my
whole life, I wanted it to maybe be something different.
But He's like, Nope, it's going to be Trashers, and
that was it.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
AJ wasn't happy. Since he was a kid, his dad
had been priming him to take over the trash business.
Hockey was how he found independence, the one part of
his life that hadn't been mapped out for him by
his family. But Jimmy had something to show him, something
that might just change his mind. A cute, feisty little
(01:43):
guy soon to be known as Scrappy, and I knew immediately.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
I'm like, oh my god, that's it.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
That's the logo. And I instantly loved the name Scrappy.
You know, the trash can with a hockey stick and
he's got those mean eyes.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
I was like, this is perfect.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
It's worth a quick google here to fully appreciate Scrappy
and all his glory. He's a cool looking trash gown,
pretty cute. You might be tempted to give him a
quick cuddle, but if you did, you'd probably regret it
because out of his lid pires some shifty looking eyes,
and he's holding a hockey stick like it's a weapon.
There's something dark about Scrappy for sure. Perfect for AJ,
(02:24):
a former hockey player who loved the violence as much
as the goals.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
The whole bad boy vibe and the whole bad boy
part of it, it all clicked it was like, oh.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
This is it now, you know.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
It's love at first sight, and scrappy was kind of
perfect for Jimmy too, an ex con running a waste
management empire with his own aggressive, no nonsense approach to life.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Mutually, my dad and I were kind of both for like,
this is what we're going to do, and we were
both in agreement right away with how we wanted to
market the team and the style of play we wanted.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
So it worked out.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Perfectly fun but also kind of scary. That right there
is the essence of the Trash's marketing plan. AJ and
Jimmy had passed the first huge hurdle of building a
sports team from scratch. They had an identity. But there's
no time for the Galantes to celebrate. The Trashes still
(03:23):
have no players, the arena isn't up to scratch. In fact,
they don't even have a professional league to professionally play in.
They've already told the local press about their ambitions. If
this wasn't all gonna end in huge embarrassment, they need
to deliver fast. The ice hockey season starts in six months.
(03:44):
It's time for AJ and Jimmy Galante to get their
skates on. I'm Claire crofton from the teams at Novel
and iHeartRadio. This is the fighty Pucks game. Two bad
boys for life. Jimmy n AJ's hockey team has a
(04:16):
name and a mascot. Now they need a league to
play in, which means charming this guy.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
I'm nervous. I want to kick the mic stand over
and over again. Oh Lord, just.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Don't let Richard Brussel's nerves for you. Back in two
thousand and four, this neatly dressed guy with a tiny
beard and a bald head was the commissioner of the
United Hockey League, or the UHL. He was the top.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
Boss, literally running the league in every aspect of the league.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
The UHL is not to be confused with the NAHL.
It isn't the big superstar Hockey League. It's a nationwide
professional league, a teer two down, basically the best league
that Galantes had a hope of joining, which is why
in spring two thousand and four, the phone rings and
Commissioner Brissel's Missouri office.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
My administrative assistant said, mister Brossel, there's a gentleman by
the name of Jimmy Galante on the phone from Danbury
Connecticut and he's interested in buying a franchise in our league.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Broussel doesn't quite know what to make of it.
Speaker 5 (05:25):
He was joking a little bit, but he was serious.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Jimmy starts to tell Brissell a bit about himself, reeling
off his many achievements.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
He is a very philanthropic individual. He wanted the city
of Danbury to have something to call their own.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
After a bit of humble bragging, Jimmy gets down to business.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
He explained that there was an arena that he would
put his own money in to renovate and turn it
into at least a thirty five hundred seat arena.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
That's not going to be cheap, but Jimmy doesn't seem faced.
He doesn't even blink when the commissioner tells him how
much it will cost to enter the league.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
That's a franchise fee of half a million dollars. That's
a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Bricel is taking Jimmy very seriously. Now he has to, really,
because his league needs money. Unlike All Star NHL games,
minor leagues can struggle to bring in the crowds. If
this guy does join the UHL, it will be a
much needed cash injection for all the teams in the league.
Speaker 5 (06:29):
I will tell you this, These aren't NHL owners that
are worth hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars.
These are individuals who, for the most part, have a
very large ego. They have a love for the game
of hockey, and they want to own a hockey team.
A lot of them are basically one bad homegate away
from maybe needing to close their doors.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
And here lies Brissell's dilemma. He has to be careful.
He can't let himself be blindsided by that one off paycheck.
What if this new team suddenly collapses.
Speaker 5 (07:02):
I mean that could be disastrous.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Professional minor leagues like the UHL can only survive if
there are enough teams to play out the season. So
Brissell needs to dig a little deeper from Jimmy commissioner.
Bussel wants bank statements, business plans, references, and he wants
to visit Donbury.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
I wanted to meet with the mayor. I wanted to
meet with the city council. I wanted to see the
arena that was in question to make sure that it
was going to be up to par because you have
to get that information for you to be able to
make a decision. You can't run a league by the
seat of your pants.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Not long after that first phone call, Brossel drives into
Jimmy's garbage yard, past cranes and huge pieces of machinery.
Speaker 5 (07:48):
Wow, well this is very interesting. You know, two hundred
trash trucks wind up I park and he's got an
office like in a warehouse, but it's up on the
second floor. And I go walking in and I'm greeted
with great fanfare.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
There's a line of people who look like they're waiting
for him, and they're all smiling.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
I mean, they had everybody lined up at the office,
all the employees, with a banner saying welcome Commissioner Brossel.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
He's led into a different room. It's much smarter than
the rest of the building. Low lighting, glass desk, classy
Jimmy Galante's office.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
He was behind his desk, leather jacket, jeans, boots, shirt open,
His hair was done nice, full beard.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Jimmy might look a bit intimidating, but today he's on
a charm offensive, just very jovial.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
Couldn't have been more hospitable.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Jimmy offers the commissioner a seat. He introduces Brissel to
Little Scrappy and then he lays out his vision.
Speaker 5 (08:55):
Quite frankly, it was impressive.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Next, Jimmy pulls out a Trash's team jersey he's had
mocked up black, white and blue with a dash of
trash can silver.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
It was phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
And Jimmy doesn't stop there. He's on a roll.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
He's got the blueprints for the arena and all the
renovations he's going to do. I thought everything that he presented,
his game plan, his business plan, his marketing plan was
beyond great.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
And best of all, Jimmy's willing to put his money
where his mouth is.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
He has a certified check for the franchise fee waiting
for me, half.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
A million dollars, just as promised. Brissell's sold on the
vision the Danbury Trashes. He can really see it. This
team is just what his league needs. He can't see
a downside.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
And then in comes with diamond earrings, big goal chains.
The only way I can explain it a punk.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Hey, how you doing?
Speaker 5 (09:57):
Pal okay?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Who's this?
Speaker 2 (10:00):
He reaches out a hand for Brissel to shake.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
Yeah, you're nice to meet you, mister commissioner, mister brossel
I made Jacoblumte.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
I was like, Oh, we're gonna have fun together, me
and this guy.
Speaker 5 (10:10):
And that's the first time I found out that Jimmy
had bought the team for his son, and his son
was going to be the general manager.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
I literally could see him thinking, I'm like, what the
fuck is this? He looked at me like I had
ten heads.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
I was taken back. Quite honestly.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
He was bald, so I saw right through that head
of his and I could see him thinking like, oh
my god, this is not normal. And he keeps looking
at my dad and he's waiting for my dad to
laugh and be like, ah, it's just a joke. But
my dad's not kidding. He was like, you're serious, and
my dads like, yeah, I'm that serious me. He's like,
heyj what's your plan?
Speaker 3 (10:47):
I said, what do you mean? What's my plan?
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Commissioner Brissell turns to Jimmy. Is this a joke or
is this all part of some genius master plan.
Speaker 5 (10:56):
I made it very very clear to Jimmy that if
that was a marketing ploy, I applauded him for that.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
A teenage president, it would get this team noticed. But
when it comes to actually running a professional hockey team.
Briscell's not sure Aj is cut out for it.
Speaker 5 (11:13):
He's going to get eaten alive by other general managers
and other owners. If he's not mature enough to handle it.
It's not going to go well.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
The new season starts in just six months. This kid
is about to finish high school and his team doesn't
even have any players yet.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
He's like, Wow, are you going to have enough time
for the team. You know, there's a big league. This
is an important job.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Brissell is concerned for Aja, but he's more worried about
the UHL. This punk could ruin the league.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
And he just looked at me, and I think he
just saw his whole league like explode.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
In front of his eyes.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
So I remember I kind of patted him on the
back and I was just like, don't worry, mister Brisoll.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Everything's going to be great.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Commissioner Brissel has no concrete reason to object to the
trash joining his league, so despite his reservations, they're in.
As Brussel leaves Jimmy's office, he has to wonder has
he just committed the cardinal sin of any commissioner and
chosen money over the reputation of his league. That's coming
(12:19):
up after the break. It's spring two thousand and four,
AJ's senior year in high school, the time of surging hormones,
(12:41):
exams and the existential stress of a wide open future,
and on top of all that, the pesky task of
building a professional hockey team from scratch. AJ might have
sounded confident when he met Commissioner Brussel, but the reality
of running a pro hockey team is kicking in hard.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
I hadn't graduated high school yet, I hadn't gotten accepted
to college yet.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
There's a new team. You're a president.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
It's like you don't know what's Your head is a blender.
You just there's so many things going through your head.
And then I'm on crutches and I got this huge
leg brace on, and I look like I'm totally out
of my mind, and I guess, in a way, I was.
The whole thing felt so surreal to me.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
AJ hobbles to the back of class. He tries to focus,
but not on his exams. He's got twenty odd hockey
players to recruit, and he's come prepared.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
I always had a binder, a three ring binder, carried
around with me everywhere, even school, class I'd be that
would be my notebook.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
AJ's printed out hundreds of pages of the finest hockey intel.
The two thousand and four Internet has to offer his source,
Hockey d B.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
It's a hockey database website, which was kind of like
the central.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Plays are all Hackey.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Every player that ever played Hackey really is on this database.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
If you're old enough to have had a MySpace account
or used aol, you'll be familiar with the layout of
hockey dB. It's super blocky, but it becomes AJ's bible.
How many goals has this guy scored? What's this player's style?
How many fights has this player gotten into? AJ is obsessed.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
You go to school during the day and supposed to
be doing like legitimate notes, and I'm sitting here looking
at stats.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
AJ studies hundreds of profiles looking for the best players
the trashers might have a chance of signing. His teachers
have never seen him focus as hard on schoolwork, but
his attention is broken when he glances up at the clock.
He has an important phone call scheduled and a few
rules to work around.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
There weren't supposed to use the payphone during score.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
And AJ doesn't have a cell phone because it's two
thousand and four, So he sneaks out of class creeps
down the hallway to the school payphone. He's got an
interview booked.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
With a reporter from the New York Times. Actually it
was a big article.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
As if multitasking exam prep with the recruitment isn't stressful enough.
AJ's also on trash at media duties. The New York
Times reporter has some questions about AJ's non existent team.
AJ tries his best to fudge some answers, but every
time a teacher walks by, he has to hang up.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Hey, I wasn't risking a detention.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
When the interview wraps, AJ gets back to the books
aka his hockey dB ringbinder, but his head is swimming.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
You know, you're looking at so many names and numbers,
you get dizzy, like who should we get?
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Who fits the bill?
Speaker 4 (15:52):
It's it's so hard, it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
His doubts are coming back.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
You know, I was kind of like, I can't do this.
I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know how
to learn to know what I don't like?
Speaker 3 (16:05):
How do you learn?
Speaker 4 (16:06):
You know, I don't know, I mean I knew nothing,
or I knew nobody and stresses from school trying to
finish school, and you know it was a lot going
on and dealing with the knee and the pain, so
I wanted to really get out of it.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
AJ is sinking. He needs help, and luckily he knows
just who to ask.
Speaker 6 (16:31):
Ladies and gentlemen. This is the most dynamic hockey scout
coach that you have ever seen and worked with. Tommy
t Bone Pampascello.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
T Bone, AJ's childhood hockey coach, the perfect person to
help with Trasher recruitment. He's been around the block long
enough to have insider knowledge the AJ's hockey dB ringbite
I can't offer. Plus, he knows a badass player when
he sees one. So AJ tells t Bone the kind
of players he's looking for. Talented but in a fighty
(17:04):
kind of way, someone with a potent fusion of skill
and aggression, but with the emphasis firmly on the aggression,
like AJ when he played, but dialed up to eleven.
AJ basically wants the human version of his mascot, Scrappy
the trash can. Did t BONI players like that? You
bet he did.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Brad Wingfield filed.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
After him the first player t Bone has in mind
is Brad Wingnut Wingfield former age twenty nine. He's originally
(17:50):
from Vancouver, Canada. A seasoned left wing shooter, built like
a fire hydrant, strong as an ox. His start of
play is brutal. He takes no prisoners on the ice
gives zero bucks only one small problem. T Bone and
Brad have history back when t Bone was the equipment
(18:15):
manager for another UHL team, the New Haven Knights, Brad
played for their arch rivals, the Almira Jackals.
Speaker 6 (18:22):
You know, I hated him because I was envious of
him in the way he would sho kick all our guys.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
And when it came to Brad, the feeling was mutual.
Speaker 7 (18:31):
You know, I was trying to meet him at the
bus to fight with them. He was throwing stuff at
me while the games were going on. It was pretty crazy.
So we didn't like each other at all.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
But t Bone won't let a little historical spack get
in the way of AJ's plans. If anything, he reckons,
it's a good omen.
Speaker 6 (18:48):
Most good friendships or understanding of each other start out
like that. You know, two people hating each other.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Never heard of that one before. But t Bone's confident,
and so when Brad's phone rings a few days later,
it's t Burn on the line.
Speaker 7 (19:03):
I'm like, the equipment manager from New Haven. I didn't
want to talk to the guy. I ended up hanging
up on the phone call from him.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
T Bone calls back, but Brad hangs up again, So
t Bone tries another tactic. He gets Jimmy Galante to
make the call and use his powers of persuasion.
Speaker 7 (19:21):
I don't know if it's just some type of vibe
he sends her the phone or whatever it is, but
I'm like, oh, this guy's serious. And he's like, I'm
sending you two plane tickets. You guys are coming out here,
and I'm like okay, And I was playing tickets showed
up the next day and I was like, Oh, these
guys are for real.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Brad's been playing in the minor leagues for years now.
He's not used to being courted by rich owners. But
he's Jimmy paying for him and his wife Sarah to
come up from Texas to Danbury. They're playing touches down
at like airport. They passed through security and out into
(20:03):
the arrivals hall.
Speaker 7 (20:05):
Guess who's there to meet us? But Tommy Pompaselo tea blown.
We just spoth started laughing and just crazy that we
were both there.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
By guns, are by guns. They pile into t bones
car and head to Danbury.
Speaker 7 (20:21):
So I'm taking you to Jimmy's office and I'm telling
you it's out of dump, and I'm like.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
It's out at dump.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Eventually they arrive at Jimmy's garbage yard and.
Speaker 7 (20:33):
We drive through the gates and he's weaving through all
these garbage piles. There's trucks everywhere, there's warehouses. I don't
know how many acres it is. It's huge. The thing's
a massive of this operation.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
And we get out.
Speaker 7 (20:50):
And I'm like, oh, we're in a dump.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
I'm like, this isn't very nice.
Speaker 7 (20:57):
We get to this office finally, and there's a lot
of people in cubicles with computers and working away. The
place starts to get nicer and nicer until you get
to the top and it's Jimmy's office and I'm like, whoa,
this is really nice. It's beautiful in there, and it's huge,
and he's sitting in behind his desk, which was big.
(21:19):
There's not a sign of a computer or anything around.
He's got sports memoryabilia all over his office. He asked
me how much did tebon and say, we'll pay you?
And I said X amount of dollars and he was like,
I'll pay it more than that.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Haggling up. Interesting tactic.
Speaker 7 (21:36):
That's by far the best deal I've ever had.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
And to seal the deal, he.
Speaker 7 (21:40):
Actually threw a bundle of ten thousand dollars on the table,
pulled out a standard EUHL contract and slapped it down
and he said, sign the contract.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Brad looks at his wife Sarah. This is a big decision.
It would mean uprooting their lives and relocating of miles
across the country.
Speaker 7 (22:02):
Sarah was like, oh boy, So I signed the contract
right there. And Sarah took that ten thousand dollars and
put it in her purse. So we were good. We
were coming to Downberry.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
D Bone has helped the Galantes sign a solid, tough guy.
But if they want to attract media attention, they can't
rely solely on being scary. They need to win, and
for that they need goals, and ideally they need a
huge name. Huge for minor league hockey, at least a
player who's used to the limelight or being vaguely near it.
(22:40):
Someone who will turn heads that's coming up after the break.
(23:01):
Obviously in a roll hood.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
This is mad on me.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
There's this scene in the film The Mighty Ducks, the
one that first got Aj into hockey, where the Ducks
first meet their coach, Gordon Bombay. There's five few are
your hockey teams.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
I'm the new coach.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Bombay isn't used to losing. He's a hotshot lawyer, so
when he turns up for the first training session, he
looks across the odd assortment of players, the ones he's
supposed to coach and inspire. It's a ragtag bunch of kids.
Their helmets are too big, and they're dressed in their
finest granny knits. And the look on his face is
pure comedic panic.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
I hate hocky and I don't like kids' supposed.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
To be in.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
It's also the moment as a viewer you know that
this team are gonna end up winning because they're all underdogs,
and everybody loves an underdog. They never lose, not in
Disney films anyway. Aj Galante also loves underdogs. In fact,
he told me he used to feel like one when
(24:05):
people assumed he was spoiled and he had to fight
to let them know who he really was. And during
that visit to Danbury, I also got the feeling that
this small city saw itself that way too, a hat
city that no longer made hats, the nearby destinations of
New Haven and New York hogging all the limelight. So
(24:25):
when AJ was trying to put together this hockey team
in Danbury, his recruitment criteria made total sense.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Someone consistent, steady, loyal, real, authentic, will do whatever it
takes to win, an underdog mentality. You know, all the
guys we looked for to play for our team were underdogs.
You know, they were outcasts or misfits or guys kicked
out of other teams or leagues.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Which is why, with his hockey dB Ringbinder spread across
his desk, AJ's eyes lit up at the name of
a potential new recruit, a dude called Gretzky.
Speaker 5 (25:04):
If you wanted to get somebody in the NHL to
demonstrate the art of puck handling, who would that be.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Wayne Gretzky is the most famous hockey player ever. Nicknamed
the Great One, He's the leading goalscorer in NHL history,
(25:30):
a total superstar, but an underdog, no, which is why
the name that pops out from the ringbinder is not
the great one, but the other one.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
Wayne Gretzky's younger brother, Brent Gretzky.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
He was perfect for the trash Is because he.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
Was in his brother's shadow. He was never ever going
to be able to live up to what his brother did.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
And even better, he.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
Was a good player and he had a great career
for himself.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
AJ gets on to Jimmy Jivvy works his magic, and
sure enough, a cut priced Gretzky is on his way
to the Hat City. And he's not the only one.
Over the course of summer two thousand and four, AJ's
scouting and Jimmy's powers of persuasion land Moore players like Ruman,
(26:20):
the Nigerian Nightmare, Nadu Garrett, Rocky Burnett, Frank the Animal
by a LEAs they joined the full squad, a mix
of gritty underdogs and ruthless tough guys. Oh yeah, so,
by August of two thousand and four, the Trashers are
finally ready to show off their new players to the world.
(26:41):
And when I say world, I mean Danbury's local press
and any other reporters they can persuade to come along.
AJ's little sister films the press conference for another Galante
home movie. A slick black bus pulls up outside the
soon to be renovated Danbrie Ice Arena. The bus doors
(27:03):
open and Jimmy leads a line of huge, muscled dudes
into the arena.
Speaker 8 (27:07):
Oh here it goes.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Poor AJ limps behind on crutches their crap. Inside the arena,
lobby chairs have been set out like a school assembly.
Lines of journalists face a small stage. The Mayor of
Danbury kicks off the conference.
Speaker 7 (27:26):
It's just something wonderful.
Speaker 6 (27:27):
This team is a wonderful gift that we can give
to the community, and it's something that you're going to
see people talking about and every diner and every coffee
shadow and every speakers about.
Speaker 7 (27:36):
The city of the airport.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
But we know that it's going to win the championship
and it's a argirl season. So AJ stands beside him
wearing his signature oversized clothes, a huge trash's top, black blue,
white and trash can silver, and two diamond ear rings.
He looks a little bit like a young Eminem.
Speaker 9 (27:57):
I think that we definitely have arst team and hopefully
they'll leave it out on the ice to prove that
they're going to start team.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
AJ sounds confident enough, but he's not feeling too well.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
It was really my first time kind of doing a
legitimate public speaking and I was coming off one of
my three surgeries after I hurt my knee, and I
was on a lot of medication, believe it or not,
and like a dope, I took it. I think like
an hour before the press conference, and being on this medication,
I was like, I sounded nuts.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
I sounded like I was slurring my words.
Speaker 9 (28:30):
Right, let's get right to the chase and introduce some
of those players. Our first player, our captain. I think
everyone knows the name well by now.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
He's been an All.
Speaker 9 (28:42):
Star in the UHL for the past couple of years,
great goal scorer, and quite frankly, he just knows how
to put the puck in the neck. He knows how
to put the pucker in the player. Other players sticks
and with justice ecstatic to happen.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Everyone Brent Redskin, maybe it's his painkiller meds subduing him.
But as Gretzky two point zero gets a warm welcome
to the stage, Aj doesn't seem like the arrogant punk
commissioner Brussel described to me. He's softly spoken, even when
he's picking up his assembled squad. To the journalists. He
(29:20):
swings his arms awkwardly as he talks, clutching the podium
like it's a life raft that might save him from
going under.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
All right, well, I thank everyone for coming.
Speaker 9 (29:31):
All the excited stays up when hopefully we'll see the
October fifteenth.
Speaker 7 (29:35):
Drive the buck.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
It makes total sense that AJ's nervous. After all, Danbury
has never been a hockey city, so this press conference
is a chance to kick start some hype around the Trashes.
AJ needs the journalist to help get the city excited,
to talk up the team, make the they must watch event,
(30:02):
to get the people of Danbury downtown to the ice.
A reader without fans, the Trashes are nothing and the
whole thing will be a spectacular failure, and that failure
will have serious implications. After all the chest thumping announcements
in cash flying around. If this team doesn't make a splash,
(30:23):
AJ and his dad will be a laughing stock in
a city where his family are spent a lot of
time and money building up their.
Speaker 8 (30:30):
Reputation, successful business, successful family, giving family. They were a
part of the community. They were a fixture in the community.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Emmanuela Palmeiras is the editor of Danbury's online news site
l Tribuna. She's been watching the Glantes for years, as
Jimmy funded hospital wings and playgrounds across the city. She
could see that this family were playing the long game.
Speaker 8 (30:56):
They were a family in search of the ultimate multi
generational American dream, which is generational wealth, generational power, something
to pass on to the next, to the next, and
to the next. It's a story of trying to build
a name, something that our less you.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Like all great journalists, Emmanuela sees the story underneath the surface.
She knew that behind the lavish charitable donations, Jimmy Gallante,
a third generation Italian immigrant, had built his success from
the ground up, and that really means something in Danbury,
which is an underdog city. It's also a city with
(31:39):
lots of different immigrant communities, many of them chasing their
own American dream. Manuela knows all about this from her
own experiences too. Her family emigrated from Brazil when she
was ten years old. It was Ralph.
Speaker 8 (31:52):
We rented an apartment we had no furniture. I remember
going to school with sandals and kids making fun of
my toes, but you know, it was a big change.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Emmanuela says that lots of people in Danbury had taken
note of the galantes achievements, their wealth, their trash empire
built from the ground up.
Speaker 8 (32:13):
It's like, you know, when you're a new immigrant group,
you're hyper analyzing the groups that came before it because
you're trying to find the recipe of success. You're trying
to figure out how did they do it? But their
rags to riches stories is what gives the next community hope.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
And so people were routing for the Glantes even before
the arrival of the Trashes.
Speaker 8 (32:38):
And then we just keep on holding on to that
hope and trying to make a way for ourselves that would,
you know, mimic the success of the person that came
before us, because we know it's possible through their experience.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
By the time the family announced that Maverick hockey team,
the city was.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
All is I mean, it was a tabloid story that
you're going to read no matter what.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
In two thousand and four, Eugene Driscoll was a reporter
for the News Times, Danbury's local paper.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
I mean the Trashers, the name, you know, the local
garbage guy starts a hockey team called the Trashers and
had all these sort of weird characters involved, including his
teenage son. I mean, it was sensational. You know, there's
no way you could deny it.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
And for all this tabloid excitement, Eugene also sees the
more profound implications for what this team could bring to Danbury.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Wow, this can really be the foundation of something. The
Trasher is coming to downtown, which was constantly trying to
redevelop itself, was seen as a potential great thing for
the city of Danbury. You know, the building block for
a new downtown Danburry. Not saying it's going to turn
into Madison Square Garden or suddenly that little block is
(33:52):
going to become Brooklyn. It definitely seemed like an ingredient for.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Success, economic revival, busy bars, thriving restaurants, the press. We're
buying into the team. So now the big question was
would everyone else do that too? Fortunately, Jimmy and AJ
had a few extra tricks up their sleeve all around.
Speaker 8 (34:19):
On Your.
Speaker 6 (34:21):
Breaking Love, you're a treasure fan that looks like we're
gonna have a.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
Live that's coming up next time on the Fighty Pucks.
The Fighting Pucks is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio. For
(34:47):
more from Novel, visit novel Dot Audio. The series is
hosted by me Claire Crofton and produced by me Joe
Wheeler and Amlia Sortland. The executive producer is David Waters.
Story editing from Max O'Brien, mither Lye Rau and Austin Mitchell.
(35:08):
Our field producer is Bebette Thomas. Our fat checker is
Darnia Suleiman. Our hockey sensitivity reader is Nikil Desais. Production
management from Sharie Houston and Charlotte Wolfe. Sound design, mixing
and scoring by Nicholas Alexander, Additional engineering by Daniel Kempson.
(35:29):
Music supervision by Nicholas Alexander and David Waters. Original music
composed by Eric Phillips. Willard Foxton is creative director of Development.
Special thanks to Sean Glynn Katrina Novelle, David Vassiman, Sean
ty Tone, and beth Anne Macaluso Novel
Novel.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
When trash magnet Jimmy Galante dreamed up a brand new
pro hockey team and gave it to his son, he
was never going to simply walk away and let the
kid get on with it. That just wasn't his style.
Jimmy decided AJ would be the face of it. It
would be a good marketing move to have a teenage
at front and center, and sure j could run thing
(00:36):
stay today, but Jimmy would still be heavily involved behind
the scenes, controlling the money and pulling any strings necessary
to help the team secure victory. But like every partnership,
these two faced an age old dilemma. What happens when
they can't even agree on the basics, like say, the
(00:57):
name of their team.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I hated it at first.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
The Trash is named after the Galante families trash dynasty.
Jimmy was set on it.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
You know, obviously had all the trash companies, and I
guess maybe because I've been around garbage and trash my
whole life, I wanted it to maybe be something different.
But He's like, Nope, it's going to be Trashers, and
that was it.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
AJ wasn't happy. Since he was a kid, his dad
had been priming him to take over the trash business.
Hockey was how he found independence, the one part of
his life that hadn't been mapped out for him by
his family. But Jimmy had something to show him, something
that might just change his mind. A cute, feisty little
(01:43):
guy soon to be known as Scrappy, and I knew immediately.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
I'm like, oh my god, that's it.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
That's the logo. And I instantly loved the name Scrappy.
You know, the trash can with a hockey stick and
he's got those mean eyes.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
I was like, this is perfect.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
It's worth a quick google here to fully appreciate Scrappy
and all his glory. He's a cool looking trash gown,
pretty cute. You might be tempted to give him a
quick cuddle, but if you did, you'd probably regret it
because out of his lid pires some shifty looking eyes,
and he's holding a hockey stick like it's a weapon.
There's something dark about Scrappy for sure. Perfect for AJ,
(02:24):
a former hockey player who loved the violence as much
as the goals.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
The whole bad boy vibe and the whole bad boy
part of it, it all clicked it was like, oh.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
This is it now, you know.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
It's love at first sight, and scrappy was kind of
perfect for Jimmy too, an ex con running a waste
management empire with his own aggressive, no nonsense approach to life.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Mutually, my dad and I were kind of both for like,
this is what we're going to do, and we were
both in agreement right away with how we wanted to
market the team and the style of play we wanted.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
So it worked out.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Perfectly fun but also kind of scary. That right there
is the essence of the Trash's marketing plan. AJ and
Jimmy had passed the first huge hurdle of building a
sports team from scratch. They had an identity. But there's
no time for the Galantes to celebrate. The Trashes still
(03:23):
have no players, the arena isn't up to scratch. In fact,
they don't even have a professional league to professionally play in.
They've already told the local press about their ambitions. If
this wasn't all gonna end in huge embarrassment, they need
to deliver fast. The ice hockey season starts in six months.
(03:44):
It's time for AJ and Jimmy Galante to get their
skates on. I'm Claire crofton from the teams at Novel
and iHeartRadio. This is the fighty Pucks game. Two bad
boys for life. Jimmy n AJ's hockey team has a
(04:16):
name and a mascot. Now they need a league to
play in, which means charming this guy.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
I'm nervous. I want to kick the mic stand over
and over again. Oh Lord, just.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Don't let Richard Brussel's nerves for you. Back in two
thousand and four, this neatly dressed guy with a tiny
beard and a bald head was the commissioner of the
United Hockey League, or the UHL. He was the top.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
Boss, literally running the league in every aspect of the league.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
The UHL is not to be confused with the NAHL.
It isn't the big superstar Hockey League. It's a nationwide
professional league, a teer two down, basically the best league
that Galantes had a hope of joining, which is why
in spring two thousand and four, the phone rings and
Commissioner Brissel's Missouri office.
Speaker 5 (05:11):
My administrative assistant said, mister Brossel, there's a gentleman by
the name of Jimmy Galante on the phone from Danbury
Connecticut and he's interested in buying a franchise in our league.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Broussel doesn't quite know what to make of it.
Speaker 5 (05:25):
He was joking a little bit, but he was serious.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Jimmy starts to tell Brissell a bit about himself, reeling
off his many achievements.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
He is a very philanthropic individual. He wanted the city
of Danbury to have something to call their own.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
After a bit of humble bragging, Jimmy gets down to business.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
He explained that there was an arena that he would
put his own money in to renovate and turn it
into at least a thirty five hundred seat arena.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
That's not going to be cheap, but Jimmy doesn't seem faced.
He doesn't even blink when the commissioner tells him how
much it will cost to enter the league.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
That's a franchise fee of half a million dollars. That's
a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Bricel is taking Jimmy very seriously. Now he has to, really,
because his league needs money. Unlike All Star NHL games,
minor leagues can struggle to bring in the crowds. If
this guy does join the UHL, it will be a
much needed cash injection for all the teams in the league.
Speaker 5 (06:29):
I will tell you this, These aren't NHL owners that
are worth hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars.
These are individuals who, for the most part, have a
very large ego. They have a love for the game
of hockey, and they want to own a hockey team.
A lot of them are basically one bad homegate away
from maybe needing to close their doors.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
And here lies Brissell's dilemma. He has to be careful.
He can't let himself be blindsided by that one off paycheck.
What if this new team suddenly collapses.
Speaker 5 (07:02):
I mean that could be disastrous.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Professional minor leagues like the UHL can only survive if
there are enough teams to play out the season. So
Brissell needs to dig a little deeper from Jimmy commissioner.
Bussel wants bank statements, business plans, references, and he wants
to visit Donbury.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
I wanted to meet with the mayor. I wanted to
meet with the city council. I wanted to see the
arena that was in question to make sure that it
was going to be up to par because you have
to get that information for you to be able to
make a decision. You can't run a league by the
seat of your pants.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Not long after that first phone call, Brossel drives into
Jimmy's garbage yard, past cranes and huge pieces of machinery.
Speaker 5 (07:48):
Wow, well this is very interesting. You know, two hundred
trash trucks wind up I park and he's got an
office like in a warehouse, but it's up on the
second floor. And I go walking in and I'm greeted
with great fanfare.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
There's a line of people who look like they're waiting
for him, and they're all smiling.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
I mean, they had everybody lined up at the office,
all the employees, with a banner saying welcome Commissioner Brossel.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
He's led into a different room. It's much smarter than
the rest of the building. Low lighting, glass desk, classy
Jimmy Galante's office.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
He was behind his desk, leather jacket, jeans, boots, shirt open,
His hair was done nice, full beard.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Jimmy might look a bit intimidating, but today he's on
a charm offensive, just very jovial.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
Couldn't have been more hospitable.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Jimmy offers the commissioner a seat. He introduces Brissel to
Little Scrappy and then he lays out his vision.
Speaker 5 (08:55):
Quite frankly, it was impressive.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Next, Jimmy pulls out a Trash's team jersey he's had
mocked up black, white and blue with a dash of
trash can silver.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
It was phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
And Jimmy doesn't stop there. He's on a roll.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
He's got the blueprints for the arena and all the
renovations he's going to do. I thought everything that he presented,
his game plan, his business plan, his marketing plan was
beyond great.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
And best of all, Jimmy's willing to put his money
where his mouth is.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
He has a certified check for the franchise fee waiting
for me, half.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
A million dollars, just as promised. Brissell's sold on the
vision the Danbury Trashes. He can really see it. This
team is just what his league needs. He can't see
a downside.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
And then in comes with diamond earrings, big goal chains.
The only way I can explain it a punk.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Hey, how you doing?
Speaker 5 (09:57):
Pal okay?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Who's this?
Speaker 2 (10:00):
He reaches out a hand for Brissel to shake.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
Yeah, you're nice to meet you, mister commissioner, mister brossel
I made Jacoblumte.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
I was like, Oh, we're gonna have fun together, me
and this guy.
Speaker 5 (10:10):
And that's the first time I found out that Jimmy
had bought the team for his son, and his son
was going to be the general manager.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
I literally could see him thinking, I'm like, what the
fuck is this? He looked at me like I had
ten heads.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
I was taken back. Quite honestly.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
He was bald, so I saw right through that head
of his and I could see him thinking like, oh
my god, this is not normal. And he keeps looking
at my dad and he's waiting for my dad to
laugh and be like, ah, it's just a joke. But
my dad's not kidding. He was like, you're serious, and
my dads like, yeah, I'm that serious me. He's like,
heyj what's your plan?
Speaker 3 (10:47):
I said, what do you mean? What's my plan?
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Commissioner Brissell turns to Jimmy. Is this a joke or
is this all part of some genius master plan.
Speaker 5 (10:56):
I made it very very clear to Jimmy that if
that was a marketing ploy, I applauded him for that.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
A teenage president, it would get this team noticed. But
when it comes to actually running a professional hockey team.
Briscell's not sure Aj is cut out for it.
Speaker 5 (11:13):
He's going to get eaten alive by other general managers
and other owners. If he's not mature enough to handle it.
It's not going to go well.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
The new season starts in just six months. This kid
is about to finish high school and his team doesn't
even have any players yet.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
He's like, Wow, are you going to have enough time
for the team. You know, there's a big league. This
is an important job.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Brissell is concerned for Aja, but he's more worried about
the UHL. This punk could ruin the league.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
And he just looked at me, and I think he
just saw his whole league like explode.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
In front of his eyes.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
So I remember I kind of patted him on the
back and I was just like, don't worry, mister Brisoll.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Everything's going to be great.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Commissioner Brissel has no concrete reason to object to the
trash joining his league, so despite his reservations, they're in.
As Brussel leaves Jimmy's office, he has to wonder has
he just committed the cardinal sin of any commissioner and
chosen money over the reputation of his league. That's coming
(12:19):
up after the break. It's spring two thousand and four,
AJ's senior year in high school, the time of surging hormones,
(12:41):
exams and the existential stress of a wide open future,
and on top of all that, the pesky task of
building a professional hockey team from scratch. AJ might have
sounded confident when he met Commissioner Brussel, but the reality
of running a pro hockey team is kicking in hard.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
I hadn't graduated high school yet, I hadn't gotten accepted
to college yet.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
There's a new team. You're a president.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
It's like you don't know what's Your head is a blender.
You just there's so many things going through your head.
And then I'm on crutches and I got this huge
leg brace on, and I look like I'm totally out
of my mind, and I guess, in a way, I was.
The whole thing felt so surreal to me.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
AJ hobbles to the back of class. He tries to focus,
but not on his exams. He's got twenty odd hockey
players to recruit, and he's come prepared.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
I always had a binder, a three ring binder, carried
around with me everywhere, even school, class I'd be that
would be my notebook.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
AJ's printed out hundreds of pages of the finest hockey intel.
The two thousand and four Internet has to offer his source,
Hockey d B.
Speaker 4 (13:55):
It's a hockey database website, which was kind of like
the central.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Plays are all Hackey.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Every player that ever played Hackey really is on this database.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
If you're old enough to have had a MySpace account
or used aol, you'll be familiar with the layout of
hockey dB. It's super blocky, but it becomes AJ's bible.
How many goals has this guy scored? What's this player's style?
How many fights has this player gotten into? AJ is obsessed.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
You go to school during the day and supposed to
be doing like legitimate notes, and I'm sitting here looking
at stats.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
AJ studies hundreds of profiles looking for the best players
the trashers might have a chance of signing. His teachers
have never seen him focus as hard on schoolwork, but
his attention is broken when he glances up at the clock.
He has an important phone call scheduled and a few
rules to work around.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
There weren't supposed to use the payphone during score.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
And AJ doesn't have a cell phone because it's two
thousand and four, So he sneaks out of class creeps
down the hallway to the school payphone. He's got an
interview booked.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
With a reporter from the New York Times. Actually it
was a big article.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
As if multitasking exam prep with the recruitment isn't stressful enough.
AJ's also on trash at media duties. The New York
Times reporter has some questions about AJ's non existent team.
AJ tries his best to fudge some answers, but every
time a teacher walks by, he has to hang up.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Hey, I wasn't risking a detention.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
When the interview wraps, AJ gets back to the books
aka his hockey dB ringbinder, but his head is swimming.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
You know, you're looking at so many names and numbers,
you get dizzy, like who should we get?
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Who fits the bill?
Speaker 4 (15:52):
It's it's so hard, it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
His doubts are coming back.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
You know, I was kind of like, I can't do this.
I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know how
to learn to know what I don't like?
Speaker 3 (16:05):
How do you learn?
Speaker 4 (16:06):
You know, I don't know, I mean I knew nothing,
or I knew nobody and stresses from school trying to
finish school, and you know it was a lot going
on and dealing with the knee and the pain, so
I wanted to really get out of it.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
AJ is sinking. He needs help, and luckily he knows
just who to ask.
Speaker 6 (16:31):
Ladies and gentlemen. This is the most dynamic hockey scout
coach that you have ever seen and worked with. Tommy
t Bone Pampascello.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
T Bone, AJ's childhood hockey coach, the perfect person to
help with Trasher recruitment. He's been around the block long
enough to have insider knowledge the AJ's hockey dB ringbite
I can't offer. Plus, he knows a badass player when
he sees one. So AJ tells t Bone the kind
of players he's looking for. Talented but in a fighty
(17:04):
kind of way, someone with a potent fusion of skill
and aggression, but with the emphasis firmly on the aggression,
like AJ when he played, but dialed up to eleven.
AJ basically wants the human version of his mascot, Scrappy
the trash can. Did t BONI players like that? You
bet he did.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Brad Wingfield filed.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
After him the first player t Bone has in mind
is Brad Wingnut Wingfield former age twenty nine. He's originally
(17:50):
from Vancouver, Canada. A seasoned left wing shooter, built like
a fire hydrant, strong as an ox. His start of
play is brutal. He takes no prisoners on the ice
gives zero bucks only one small problem. T Bone and
Brad have history back when t Bone was the equipment
(18:15):
manager for another UHL team, the New Haven Knights, Brad
played for their arch rivals, the Almira Jackals.
Speaker 6 (18:22):
You know, I hated him because I was envious of
him in the way he would sho kick all our guys.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
And when it came to Brad, the feeling was mutual.
Speaker 7 (18:31):
You know, I was trying to meet him at the
bus to fight with them. He was throwing stuff at
me while the games were going on. It was pretty crazy.
So we didn't like each other at all.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
But t Bone won't let a little historical spack get
in the way of AJ's plans. If anything, he reckons,
it's a good omen.
Speaker 6 (18:48):
Most good friendships or understanding of each other start out
like that. You know, two people hating each other.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Never heard of that one before. But t Bone's confident,
and so when Brad's phone rings a few days later,
it's t Burn on the line.
Speaker 7 (19:03):
I'm like, the equipment manager from New Haven. I didn't
want to talk to the guy. I ended up hanging
up on the phone call from him.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
T Bone calls back, but Brad hangs up again, So
t Bone tries another tactic. He gets Jimmy Galante to
make the call and use his powers of persuasion.
Speaker 7 (19:21):
I don't know if it's just some type of vibe
he sends her the phone or whatever it is, but
I'm like, oh, this guy's serious. And he's like, I'm
sending you two plane tickets. You guys are coming out here,
and I'm like okay, And I was playing tickets showed
up the next day and I was like, Oh, these
guys are for real.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Brad's been playing in the minor leagues for years now.
He's not used to being courted by rich owners. But
he's Jimmy paying for him and his wife Sarah to
come up from Texas to Danbury. They're playing touches down
at like airport. They passed through security and out into
(20:03):
the arrivals hall.
Speaker 7 (20:05):
Guess who's there to meet us? But Tommy Pompaselo tea blown.
We just spoth started laughing and just crazy that we
were both there.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
By guns, are by guns. They pile into t bones
car and head to Danbury.
Speaker 7 (20:21):
So I'm taking you to Jimmy's office and I'm telling
you it's out of dump, and I'm like.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
It's out at dump.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Eventually they arrive at Jimmy's garbage yard and.
Speaker 7 (20:33):
We drive through the gates and he's weaving through all
these garbage piles. There's trucks everywhere, there's warehouses. I don't
know how many acres it is. It's huge. The thing's
a massive of this operation.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
And we get out.
Speaker 7 (20:50):
And I'm like, oh, we're in a dump.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
I'm like, this isn't very nice.
Speaker 7 (20:57):
We get to this office finally, and there's a lot
of people in cubicles with computers and working away. The
place starts to get nicer and nicer until you get
to the top and it's Jimmy's office and I'm like, whoa,
this is really nice. It's beautiful in there, and it's huge,
and he's sitting in behind his desk, which was big.
(21:19):
There's not a sign of a computer or anything around.
He's got sports memoryabilia all over his office. He asked
me how much did tebon and say, we'll pay you?
And I said X amount of dollars and he was like,
I'll pay it more than that.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Haggling up. Interesting tactic.
Speaker 7 (21:36):
That's by far the best deal I've ever had.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
And to seal the deal, he.
Speaker 7 (21:40):
Actually threw a bundle of ten thousand dollars on the table,
pulled out a standard EUHL contract and slapped it down
and he said, sign the contract.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Brad looks at his wife Sarah. This is a big decision.
It would mean uprooting their lives and relocating of miles
across the country.
Speaker 7 (22:02):
Sarah was like, oh boy, So I signed the contract
right there. And Sarah took that ten thousand dollars and
put it in her purse. So we were good. We
were coming to Downberry.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
D Bone has helped the Galantes sign a solid, tough guy.
But if they want to attract media attention, they can't
rely solely on being scary. They need to win, and
for that they need goals, and ideally they need a
huge name. Huge for minor league hockey, at least a
player who's used to the limelight or being vaguely near it.
(22:40):
Someone who will turn heads that's coming up after the break.
(23:01):
Obviously in a roll hood.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
This is mad on me.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
There's this scene in the film The Mighty Ducks, the
one that first got Aj into hockey, where the Ducks
first meet their coach, Gordon Bombay. There's five few are
your hockey teams.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
I'm the new coach.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Bombay isn't used to losing. He's a hotshot lawyer, so
when he turns up for the first training session, he
looks across the odd assortment of players, the ones he's
supposed to coach and inspire. It's a ragtag bunch of kids.
Their helmets are too big, and they're dressed in their
finest granny knits. And the look on his face is
pure comedic panic.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
I hate hocky and I don't like kids' supposed.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
To be in.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
It's also the moment as a viewer you know that
this team are gonna end up winning because they're all underdogs,
and everybody loves an underdog. They never lose, not in
Disney films anyway. Aj Galante also loves underdogs. In fact,
he told me he used to feel like one when
(24:05):
people assumed he was spoiled and he had to fight
to let them know who he really was. And during
that visit to Danbury, I also got the feeling that
this small city saw itself that way too, a hat
city that no longer made hats, the nearby destinations of
New Haven and New York hogging all the limelight. So
(24:25):
when AJ was trying to put together this hockey team
in Danbury, his recruitment criteria made total sense.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Someone consistent, steady, loyal, real, authentic, will do whatever it
takes to win, an underdog mentality. You know, all the
guys we looked for to play for our team were underdogs.
You know, they were outcasts or misfits or guys kicked
out of other teams or leagues.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Which is why, with his hockey dB Ringbinder spread across
his desk, AJ's eyes lit up at the name of
a potential new recruit, a dude called Gretzky.
Speaker 5 (25:04):
If you wanted to get somebody in the NHL to
demonstrate the art of puck handling, who would that be.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Wayne Gretzky is the most famous hockey player ever. Nicknamed
the Great One, He's the leading goalscorer in NHL history,
(25:30):
a total superstar, but an underdog, no, which is why
the name that pops out from the ringbinder is not
the great one, but the other one.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
Wayne Gretzky's younger brother, Brent Gretzky.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
He was perfect for the trash Is because he.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
Was in his brother's shadow. He was never ever going
to be able to live up to what his brother did.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
And even better, he.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
Was a good player and he had a great career
for himself.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
AJ gets on to Jimmy Jivvy works his magic, and
sure enough, a cut priced Gretzky is on his way
to the Hat City. And he's not the only one.
Over the course of summer two thousand and four, AJ's
scouting and Jimmy's powers of persuasion land Moore players like Ruman,
(26:20):
the Nigerian Nightmare, Nadu Garrett, Rocky Burnett, Frank the Animal
by a LEAs they joined the full squad, a mix
of gritty underdogs and ruthless tough guys. Oh yeah, so,
by August of two thousand and four, the Trashers are
finally ready to show off their new players to the world.
(26:41):
And when I say world, I mean Danbury's local press
and any other reporters they can persuade to come along.
AJ's little sister films the press conference for another Galante
home movie. A slick black bus pulls up outside the
soon to be renovated Danbrie Ice Arena. The bus doors
(27:03):
open and Jimmy leads a line of huge, muscled dudes
into the arena.
Speaker 8 (27:07):
Oh here it goes.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Poor AJ limps behind on crutches their crap. Inside the arena,
lobby chairs have been set out like a school assembly.
Lines of journalists face a small stage. The Mayor of
Danbury kicks off the conference.
Speaker 7 (27:26):
It's just something wonderful.
Speaker 6 (27:27):
This team is a wonderful gift that we can give
to the community, and it's something that you're going to
see people talking about and every diner and every coffee
shadow and every speakers about.
Speaker 7 (27:36):
The city of the airport.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
But we know that it's going to win the championship
and it's a argirl season. So AJ stands beside him
wearing his signature oversized clothes, a huge trash's top, black blue,
white and trash can silver, and two diamond ear rings.
He looks a little bit like a young Eminem.
Speaker 9 (27:57):
I think that we definitely have arst team and hopefully
they'll leave it out on the ice to prove that
they're going to start team.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
AJ sounds confident enough, but he's not feeling too well.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
It was really my first time kind of doing a
legitimate public speaking and I was coming off one of
my three surgeries after I hurt my knee, and I
was on a lot of medication, believe it or not,
and like a dope, I took it. I think like
an hour before the press conference, and being on this medication,
I was like, I sounded nuts.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
I sounded like I was slurring my words.
Speaker 9 (28:30):
Right, let's get right to the chase and introduce some
of those players. Our first player, our captain. I think
everyone knows the name well by now.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
He's been an All.
Speaker 9 (28:42):
Star in the UHL for the past couple of years,
great goal scorer, and quite frankly, he just knows how
to put the puck in the neck. He knows how
to put the pucker in the player. Other players sticks
and with justice ecstatic to happen.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Everyone Brent Redskin, maybe it's his painkiller meds subduing him.
But as Gretzky two point zero gets a warm welcome
to the stage, Aj doesn't seem like the arrogant punk
commissioner Brussel described to me. He's softly spoken, even when
he's picking up his assembled squad. To the journalists. He
(29:20):
swings his arms awkwardly as he talks, clutching the podium
like it's a life raft that might save him from
going under.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
All right, well, I thank everyone for coming.
Speaker 9 (29:31):
All the excited stays up when hopefully we'll see the
October fifteenth.
Speaker 7 (29:35):
Drive the buck.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
It makes total sense that AJ's nervous. After all, Danbury
has never been a hockey city, so this press conference
is a chance to kick start some hype around the Trashes.
AJ needs the journalist to help get the city excited,
to talk up the team, make the they must watch event,
(30:02):
to get the people of Danbury downtown to the ice.
A reader without fans, the Trashes are nothing and the
whole thing will be a spectacular failure, and that failure
will have serious implications. After all the chest thumping announcements
in cash flying around. If this team doesn't make a splash,
(30:23):
AJ and his dad will be a laughing stock in
a city where his family are spent a lot of
time and money building up their.
Speaker 8 (30:30):
Reputation, successful business, successful family, giving family. They were a
part of the community. They were a fixture in the community.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Emmanuela Palmeiras is the editor of Danbury's online news site
l Tribuna. She's been watching the Glantes for years, as
Jimmy funded hospital wings and playgrounds across the city. She
could see that this family were playing the long game.
Speaker 8 (30:56):
They were a family in search of the ultimate multi
generational American dream, which is generational wealth, generational power, something
to pass on to the next, to the next, and
to the next. It's a story of trying to build
a name, something that our less you.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Like all great journalists, Emmanuela sees the story underneath the surface.
She knew that behind the lavish charitable donations, Jimmy Gallante,
a third generation Italian immigrant, had built his success from
the ground up, and that really means something in Danbury,
which is an underdog city. It's also a city with
(31:39):
lots of different immigrant communities, many of them chasing their
own American dream. Manuela knows all about this from her
own experiences too. Her family emigrated from Brazil when she
was ten years old. It was Ralph.
Speaker 8 (31:52):
We rented an apartment we had no furniture. I remember
going to school with sandals and kids making fun of
my toes, but you know, it was a big change.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Emmanuela says that lots of people in Danbury had taken
note of the galantes achievements, their wealth, their trash empire
built from the ground up.
Speaker 8 (32:13):
It's like, you know, when you're a new immigrant group,
you're hyper analyzing the groups that came before it because
you're trying to find the recipe of success. You're trying
to figure out how did they do it? But their
rags to riches stories is what gives the next community hope.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
And so people were routing for the Glantes even before
the arrival of the Trashes.
Speaker 8 (32:38):
And then we just keep on holding on to that
hope and trying to make a way for ourselves that would,
you know, mimic the success of the person that came
before us, because we know it's possible through their experience.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
By the time the family announced that Maverick hockey team,
the city was.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
All is I mean, it was a tabloid story that
you're going to read no matter what.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
In two thousand and four, Eugene Driscoll was a reporter
for the News Times, Danbury's local paper.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
I mean the Trashers, the name, you know, the local
garbage guy starts a hockey team called the Trashers and
had all these sort of weird characters involved, including his
teenage son. I mean, it was sensational. You know, there's
no way you could deny it.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
And for all this tabloid excitement, Eugene also sees the
more profound implications for what this team could bring to Danbury.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Wow, this can really be the foundation of something. The
Trasher is coming to downtown, which was constantly trying to
redevelop itself, was seen as a potential great thing for
the city of Danbury. You know, the building block for
a new downtown Danburry. Not saying it's going to turn
into Madison Square Garden or suddenly that little block is
(33:52):
going to become Brooklyn. It definitely seemed like an ingredient for.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Success, economic revival, busy bars, thriving restaurants, the press. We're
buying into the team. So now the big question was
would everyone else do that too? Fortunately, Jimmy and AJ
had a few extra tricks up their sleeve all around.
Speaker 8 (34:19):
On Your.
Speaker 6 (34:21):
Breaking Love, you're a treasure fan that looks like we're
gonna have a.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
Live that's coming up next time on the Fighty Pucks.
The Fighting Pucks is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio. For
(34:47):
more from Novel, visit novel Dot Audio. The series is
hosted by me Claire Crofton and produced by me Joe
Wheeler and Amlia Sortland. The executive producer is David Waters.
Story editing from Max O'Brien, mither Lye Rau and Austin Mitchell.
(35:08):
Our field producer is Bebette Thomas. Our fat checker is
Darnia Suleiman. Our hockey sensitivity reader is Nikil Desais. Production
management from Sharie Houston and Charlotte Wolfe. Sound design, mixing
and scoring by Nicholas Alexander, Additional engineering by Daniel Kempson.
(35:29):
Music supervision by Nicholas Alexander and David Waters. Original music
composed by Eric Phillips. Willard Foxton is creative director of Development.
Special thanks to Sean Glynn Katrina Novelle, David Vassiman, Sean
ty Tone, and beth Anne Macaluso Novel
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