Attila Ambrus the Whiskey Robber has competition as the most famous convict to play in Transylvania or Hungary: HSC Csíkszereda has signed former New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues forward Mike Danton. No worries he is a good guy now!
When Danton steps on the ice in Slovakia against Nové Zámky on Friday he will become the most experienced NHL player to ever play in the MOL League. He scored 14 points in a span of 87 games.
Up until Danton's arrival the only other player with any NHL experience was Cam Severson who appeared in 37 NHL games and played for Brasov during the 2008-2009 season.
Mike Danton, who was actually born Mike Jefferson, hails from Brampton Ontario and played his junior hockey in the OHL and was drafted in the 5th round by the New Jersey Devils in 2000. The following season he spent mostly with the Albany River Rats, the AHL affiliate of the Devils, but was called up to "the show" and he played in two games. Over the next couple of years he became a solid NHL player first with the Devils then with the Blues.
When he was still with the Devils he became estranged from his family and he changed his name from Jefferson to Danton. On April 16th 2004 Mike Danton was arrested on charges for conspiracy to commit a murder, to which he plead guilty to hiring a hitman. His target was his former youth coach and later his agent David Frost. He was sentenced to 90 months in jail but was paroled after 63 months.
While he was in jail he took online classes at Queens College and once he was released he attended St.Mary's University where he played on the team and received his degree as well. Since leaving Canada after the 2010-2011 season he has played in the Swedish Division 1, EBEL, Slovak Extra League, and Kazakhstan.
While he was playing with IFK Ore in Sweden he saved a teammates life. Marcus Bengtsson took a hard hit and was convulsing when Danton reached into Bengtsson's mouth and prevented him from choking on his own tongue.
It is clear that anyone with 87 NHL games on his resume will raise the on ice level of the MOL League.
Szabolcs Závodszky
@Zavodszky