Danbury Trashers to Get the Hollywood Treatment

DANBURY, CT --- The Danbury Trashers are making a comeback, on the silver screen, at least. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the film project, described as Slap Shot meets Superbad, is being produced by Tom McNulty (Date Night), and produced and financed by Yellow Bear Films.

The Trashers, a United Hockey League expansion team, were the pride and joy of area hockey fans for a brief but shining two seasons, from 2004 to 2006. The franchise rights were bought by waste management mogul James Galante, and named after his business interests.

Galante named his 17-year-old son, A.J., as team president and General Manager. A.J. had his friends design the team logo, which resembled a particularly irate garbage can.

The elder Galante made a point of hiring the league's leaders in penalty minutes, hoping to craft a team with a "bad boy" image. He succeeded in spades: For the two season they were on the ice, the Danbury Trashers were regarded as the most violent team in professional sports.

It was Galante's money -- an additional $1.5 million above the half-million franchise fee -- that transformed the Danbury Ice Arena from a 750 seat local rink into a 3,000 seat professional hockey facility.

Everything came crashing down two years after it all began, when Galante pleaded guilty to racketeering charges, and the team disbanded, citing financial problems.

In retrospect, it's a bit hard to believe that it has taken Hollywood this long to make a film about the Danbury Trashers.