In 2004, then-NHL player Mike Danton pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire charges and served more than five years in prison.
Danton is in Edmonton this week hosting a hockey camp—a stop along his journey to redemption.
Fifteen years since he suited up for them, Danton is wearing his St. Louis Blues helmet while coaching a handful of Edmonton area bantam and midget hockey players, serving as a reminder of what he had, and what he lost.
“I had the NHL taken away from right beneath my legs, and I was in a jail cell for five and a half years, and my message is anyone can turn a negative into a positive, and if you don’t believe so, look at me,” Danton told CTV News Edmonton.
At 23, Danton was sent to prison for his involvement in a murder-for-hire plot. It’s not a past he’s proud of, but it is one he accepts.
“I was in a pretty messed up state at that time, that’s for sure. And it’s a big reason why I went for psychology in my undergrad and am now working towards my major in sports psychology.”
Danton didn’t want to walk away from hockey while he works towards his PhD, so he’s sharing his experience with a new generation of players.
“I’ve played in every league you’ve ever dreamed of playing in, and I’ve made every mistake you don’t want to make, so why wouldn’t you listen to me? Why wouldn’t you want to learn from that?”
After attending his camp last summer in Halifax, Zach Baxter is back on the ice with Danton in Edmonton. For Baxter, the most impactful part of camp comes off the ice.
“It’s very important to give people second chances because not everyone had a good childhood and you don’t always know what’s going on in their life until you hear it from them and hear their stories of what happened, and once you hear all the bad things that happened to him, it changes your perspective,” Baxter said.
Danton said his path towards redemption is ongoing, adding there are plenty skeptical parents, and those flat out against his new role in the game.
“If you don’t want to take the time to get to know me, or get to know what I’m doing with my program, I don’t want you here anyways, because I won’t be able to change your mind regardless,” Danton said. “You don’t know me, so you can’t sit there and chirp about what I did. No one knows the truth about what I did or why I did it. Only I do.”
Danton recently signed on as the new coach of the Pictou County Crushers of the Maritime Junior Hockey League.
A previous version of this story wrongly stated Danton targeted his agent in a murder-for-hire plot. In fact, the target wasn’t identified in court records when Danton pleaded guilty.
