Mike Danton
Michael Sage Danton | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 21, 1980 Jefferson |
| Occupation | Professional ice hockey player |
| Years active | 1996–2017 |
| Known for | NHL player, convicted felon |
Michael Sage Danton (born Jefferson, October 21, 1980) is a former professional ice hockey player of Polish-Canadian descent and a convicted felon. His last team was Rivière-du-Loup 3L, competing in the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH).
Between 2000 and 2004, Danton appeared in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues before serving time in prison for conspiracy to commit murder. After completing 63 months of a 90-month sentence, he was granted parole on September 11, 2009.
Following his release, Danton continued his professional hockey career across leagues in Europe and North America.
Junior hockey career
During his junior years, known as Mike Jefferson, he participated in the 1994 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament representing the Toronto Young Nationals minor hockey team. His junior career started in the 1996–97 season with the Quinte Hawks of the Metro Junior A Hockey League. From 1997 to 2000, he played in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the Sarnia Sting, Toronto St. Michael's Majors, and Barrie Colts. Notably, during the 2000 Memorial Cup while with the Colts, Jefferson publicly criticized Brad Richards and subsequently declined to shake his hand after Richards received the tournament MVP award.
Professional hockey career (2000–2004)
Danton was drafted 135th overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. He later joined the St. Louis Blues as a left winger after they traded a third-round draft pick to New Jersey to acquire him. In the 2003–04 season, he appeared in 68 games for St. Louis. While part of the Devils organization, he changed his surname from Jefferson to Danton following a family estrangement. The new surname was inspired by a thirteen-year-old boy he met at David Frost's hockey camp, chosen because it sounded appealing. During this period, Danton had disputes with Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello, which led to suspensions and ultimately his trade to St. Louis.
Arrest and imprisonment (2004–2009)
Danton was taken into custody on April 16, 2004, just two days after the St. Louis Blues were eliminated from the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder. On July 16, 2004, he admitted guilt to attempting to hire a hitman—who was actually an undercover police dispatcher—to kill his agent David Frost. He received a sentence of seven and a half years in federal prison in the United States. Frost has consistently denied being the intended victim; however, in 2011 Danton asserted that his estranged father, Steve Jefferson, was the actual target.
In November 2005, CBC's The Fifth Estate broadcasted Rogue Agent, which explored Frost's controlling influence over Danton along with allegations of abuse involving Danton’s younger brother. The program featured a recorded phone call where Frost directed Danton to enter a guilty plea and insisted that he say "I love you," sparking further questions about their relationship. In 2006, Frost faced sexual exploitation charges tied to incidents involving minors during his junior hockey coaching tenure but was acquitted in 2008. Additionally, he was cleared of fraud accusations related to unauthorized use of one of Danton’s credit cards in 2009.
In July 2008, it came to light that Howard Kieffer—the attorney representing Danton during the murder conspiracy trial—was not authorized to practice law. Kieffer pleaded not guilty to felony charges filed against him in September 2008.
On March 19, 2009, after serving five years at FCI Sandstone in the United States, Danton was transferred to a penitentiary in Joyceville, Ontario. This transfer made him eligible for parole under Canadian law; parole was granted on September 11, 2009. Conditions of his release prohibited contact with his father—whom he later identified as the intended victim—and barred any direct meetings with Frost, who remains widely believed to have been the actual target.
University hockey tenure (2010–2011)
During his incarceration, Danton pursued distance learning courses through Queen's University. In the autumn of 2009, he submitted an application to Saint Mary's University located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he enrolled in three classes for the winter 2010 term and became a member of the varsity men's hockey squad, the Saint Mary's Huskies.
On January 27, 2010, Danton netted a goal in his first match following his release, although the Huskies were defeated 4-1 by the Acadia Axemen at the Halifax Forum. He also competed against the UPEI Panthers on January 30. The Huskies secured the 2010 University Cup title on March 28 by overcoming the Alberta Golden Bears in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
On October 4, 2010, Danton was recognized as an Academic All-Canadian by Canadian Interuniversity Sport after attaining a GPA of 3.9 throughout winter, spring semesters, and summer classes. His dedication to academics was exemplified by late-night study sessions at Saint Mary's Patrick Power Library.
Resumption of professional hockey career (2011–2017)
Danton declared on July 28, 2011, via Twitter that he had signed with Swedish Division 1 team IFK Ore for the 2011–12 campaign. While the club acknowledged his background, they highlighted his hockey abilities as the primary factor for recruitment and appointed him captain immediately.
In his debut game on September 18, 2011, Danton applied skills acquired during incarceration to assist teammate Marcus Bengtsson after a choking incident caused by a head injury. Throughout that season's 27 games, he accumulated 16 goals and 25 assists for a total of 41 points.
Following IFK Ore's failure to qualify for the spring "Allettan" series on December 17, 2011, Danton signed with Orli Znojmo competing in the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, where he completed the remainder of the season.
On May 20, 2012, Elite Ice Hockey League's Coventry Blaze announced Danton's acquisition; however, his contract was nullified due to visa refusals from the UK Border Agency before he could join.
After roster adjustments at Kramfors-Alliansen of Swedish Division 1, Danton inked a one-year deal with them on September 29, 2012. On January 9, 2013, he transferred to HC ’05 Banská Bystrica in the Slovak Extraliga. He started the 2013–14 season with Kazakhstan’s Beibarys Atyrau but ended his contract citing violations and subsequently moved to Romania’s HSC Csíkszereda.
Danton signed with Ciarko PBS Bank KH Sanok of the Polska Hokej Liga on January 24, 2014, contributing to their playoff championship victory that season. He extended his contract for two additional seasons. Due to financial difficulties forcing Sanok out of competition for 2016–17, Danton returned to North America and joined Rivière-du-Loup 3L of the LNAH. After completing one season there, he retired from professional play.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1996–97 | Bramalea Blues | OPJHL | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Quinte Hawks | MetJHL | 35 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 281 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Sarnia Sting | OHL | 12 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Toronto St. Michael's Majors | OHL | 18 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Toronto St. Michael's Majors | OHL | 27 | 18 | 22 | 40 | 116 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Barrie Colts | OHL | 26 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 62 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 38 | ||
| 1999–2000 | Barrie Colts | OHL | 58 | 34 | 53 | 87 | 203 | 25 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 107 | ||
| 2000–01 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 69 | 19 | 15 | 34 | 195 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 17 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 68 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 141 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| "2009–10" | "Saint Mary's University" | "AUS" | "3"|"1"|"4"|"6" | "6"|"3"|"9"|"6" | ||||||||||
| "2010–11" | "Saint Mary's University" | "AUS" | "3"|"2"|"5"|"30" | "2"|"0"|"2"|"0" | ||||||||||
| "2011–12" | "IFK Ore" | "SWE.3" | "16"|"25"|"41"|"54" | "—"|"—"|"—"|"—" | ||||||||||
| "2011–12" | "Orli Znojmo" | "EBEL" | "4"|"5"|"9"|"65" | "0"|"0"|"0"|"11" | ||||||||||
| "2012–13" | "Kramfors–Alliansen" | "SWE.3" | "22"|"16"|"38"|"82" | "—"|"—"|"—"| "—" | ||||||||||
| "2012–13" | "HC '05 Banská Bystrica" | "SVK" | "3"| "7"| "10"| "12" | '0'|'1'|'1'|'18' | ||||||||||
| '2013–14' | 'Beibarys Atyrau' | 'KAZ' | '4'|'11'|'15'|'57' | '—'|'—'|'—'|'—' | ||||||||||
| '2013–14' | 'HSC Csíkszereda' | 'MOL' | '2'|'5'|'7'|'14' | '—'|'—'|'—'|'—' | ||||||||||
| '2013–14' | 'KH Sanok' | 'POL' | '4'|'11'|'15'|'20' | '1'|'7'|'8'|'16' | ||||||||||
| '2014–15' | 'KH Sanok' | 'POL' | '18'|'34'|'52'|'166' | '2'|'6'|'8'|'12' | ||||||||||
| '2015–16' | 'STS Sanok' | 'POL' | '10'|'26'|'36'|'48' | '3'|'10'|'13'|'4' | ||||||||||
| '2016–17' | 'Rivière-du-Loup 3L' | 'LNAH' | '9'|'17'|'26'|'31' | '1'|'2'|'3'|'4' | ||||||||||
| NHL totals | 87 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 182 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| POL totals | 95 | 32 | 71 | 103 | 234 | 38 | 6 | 23 | 29 | 32 | ||||
External links
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- 1980 births
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- 21st-century Canadian criminals
- Albany River Rats players
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