What I Want For Christmas
Some kids run a Kleenex® box cover business for Junior Achievement. 19 year year old A.J. Galante graduates high school with his own professional hockey team. Way.

Dan HICKLING
MLNSportsZone.com

DANBURY, Conn. -- [OPINION] - There is much about the Danbury Trashers that defies convention. For one thing, Trashers team president, A.J. Galante is just 19 years old, younger than all of the club's players and many of its fans.

For another, they play in what may be the smallest venue in professional hockey, the Danbury Ice Arena. Then of course is the team's on-ice success. Most expansion teams don't get off to the sort of start the Trashers have in its first few weeks of life in the United Hockey League. The Trashers are indeed an odd lot. Odd, but interesting. With a dash of belligerence shaken in. "Me and my father (team owner James Galante) have always done things outside the box," said Galante, who was installed at the helm when the elder Galante purchased a UHL expansion franchise in April 2004. "Quite frankly we don't care how we look to other people."

A.J. Galante, 19 President Danbury Trashers Photo on danburytrashers.com

Actually the Galantes do function inside the box, too.
 
Following a contentious game with Kalamazoo, Dec. 1, the elder Galante stormed the penalty box area in an attempt to get his hands on the referee (See Opinion: "Taking Out the Trashers" and Raw Feed News). One roundhouse right landed on the mouth of a linesman, resulting  in Galante's arrest on third degree assault charges (Outcome still pending.)

Hockey night in Danbury. Better not blink.

Eyebrows were raised when it was announced that the younger Galante had been given the reins of the new hockey team, dubbed the Trashers in reference to the Galantes' involvement in the waste removal business.

A senior at nearby New Fairfield High at the time, Galante sat in at UHL Governors meetings before he could dance at his own senior prom.

"I got to have my picture next to (Adirondack president and former NHL coach) Barry Melrose (in the UHL media guide)," he said. "How cool is that?"

Still, he would rather be known as the UHL's most successful team prexy than its youngest.

"It's just one of those things," said, who has started his freshman year at Manhattanville College. "A lot people get this idea of me, whatever I am. But people who know me think I'm a decent kid. I'm just looking to do something that nobody has done before."

Galante, who sports stud earrings in both lobes, is hoping to break new ground with every step.

He draws inspiration from Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, who at the advanced age of 29 wiped away 86 years worth of heartbreak from the New England psyche.

"I look at Theo," Galante, said. "What did he just do? He turned around the biggest curse in sports. And that's no joke. Younger people have fresh ideas. We know what fans want to see. This is such a great opportunity for me. I'm not looking to blow it."

The early reviews are favorable, certainly inside the boards.

Beginning with the hiring of Todd Stirling to run the hockey department, the Trashers have assembled a formidable squad, featuring the likes of center Brent Gretzky, defenseman Roman Ndur, goalie Scott Stirling (brother of Todd and son of New York Islanders' bench boss Steve Stirling).

The money spent hasn't gone to waste (pun intended), either. At the season's quarter turn, the Trashers were leading the UHL's Eastern Division, with a six-game winning streak and counting.

"Most expansion teams, that's exactly what they are. Expansion," Galante said. "It's like there's an (expectation) that comes with and expansion team, that it won't be great. We wanted to be great from the get-go. We're not looking for second place. We're just looking to take the Colonial Cup right off the bat."

If that sounds like an aggressive plan, at least it fits the Galante picture. Galante played four years of hockey at New Fairfield, and led the league in penalty minutes (like father like son).

Aggressive, too, are the plans Galante has to try to put every inch of tiny Danbury Ice Arena to good use. Just four years old and still gleaming, the DIA was built primarily for recreational use, not as a professional sports venue. The Galantes embarked on a facility upgrade, which included boosting the seating capacity from 600 to 3000.

"I played all four years of high school, here," Galante said. "So this place is close to my heart. This place is loud and intimidates (opponents). You never know what we can do. We did so much in just four months. When this season is over, we'll have plenty to do. Our rink is what it is. We don't care how we look to other people, because this is Danbury. If people give it a chance, they'll love it."

Unconventional, just like the "kid" running the team.