The New "Untold" About The Danbury Trashers On Netflix Deserves To Go In The Hockey Hall Of Fame
A few years ago I wrote a blog titled, "They're Making A Movie About The Danbury Trashers And It's Going To Be The Greatest Movie Ever". You can read that blog right here.
Now I'll admit that I never got around to seeing whatever the movie was they made about the Trashers. I'm not even sure if that movie ended up being released.
But what I do know is that the new episode of "Untold" on Netflix just dropped today about the Trashers and it....was....AWESOME. I mean we're talking about one of the most wild journeys a hockey story could ever take you on. I don't want to give away too much of the episode and I'll try not to spoil anything. But if you didn't know anything about the Danbury Trashers before, prepare to have a new favorite hockey team by the time you're done watching.
I'll admit that I didn't know much about the Trashers before I wrote that first blog in 2018. But from what I gathered then, I knew they were pretty much just Slap Shot come to life. You had a team that racked up 2800 penalty minutes in a single season, they were owned by a mobster and they were run by his 17-year-old son. There would be massive brawls every night, they had guys like Brent Gretzky and Mike Rupp on the roster, and they were only around for a couple of seasons. Seems like an enforcer circus show from the outside looking in.
Once you get a chance to hear from the inside though like you do in this episode of "Untold"? Well holy shit. I'm starting to think that AJ Galante should have a career as a GM in the NHL right now because what this kid was able to do was incredible. You see a story about a 17-year-old running a hockey team that his dad bought for him and you immediately think you're going to hate the kid. But turns out AJ Galante was born for this. He was just a kid who loved pro wrestling, loved the Mighty Ducks, and wanted to find a way to combine those two things together. So he did his homework, figured out the exact type of players he'd need to bring in to make a team that was tough as nails but also competitive. A team that would beat the shit out of their opponents physically and on the scoreboard. A team that his community could rally around.
And he did exactly that. All as a teenager. Again, I don't want to spoil too much of the episode here. But to have an idea of the team he wanted to build in his head and then execute it pretty much flawlessly? Unbelievable.
Then obviously you get into the whole organized crime aspect of the story and things start to get a little dicey. But from a purely hockey perspective, the Danbury Trashers deserve way more credit in hockey history as being a team that was masterfully put together as opposed to just being a sideshow. Plus all the other side characters in this saga are a trip. So put this documentary in the Hall of Fame, and somebody direct me to a place where I can find a Trashers jersey.