Danton has been cleared to play at St. Mary's University.
HALIFAX — Correctional officials have cleared former NHL player Mike Danton — who was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder — to move to Halifax and play university hockey, the athletic director at Saint Mary’s University said Wednesday.
Steve Sarty said Danton, who lives in Toronto, will join the university’s hockey team after his arrival, expected within days.
But Danton won’t be suiting up with the Huskies right away, Sarty said.
“It’s more important for us to get him acclimatized to school, used to the routine,” he said.
“When he lands here it’s going to be a bit of an abnormal situation, so we just want to make sure he’s comfortable and has some sense of normalcy.”
Sarty said coach Trevor Stienburg, who has yet to see Danton skate, will make the call on when he starts.
The Saint Mary’s Huskies are ranked eight nationally and even though the players are accepting of their new teammate, Stienburg has to consider chemistry, Sarty said.
“The team is doing really well right now, so he wants to make sure that it’s a fit on the ice,” said Sarty.
“The players are behind this and they know that if Mike Danton has a position, somebody else is going to have less ice time.”
The Correctional Service of Canada won’t comment on specific cases such as Danton’s, but an agency spokeswoman said it is generally supportive of anyone trying to reintegrate into society by returning to school.
Danton, 29, has completed some correspondence courses from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., and has enrolled in three sociology courses at Saint Mary’s.
A return to the NHL is unlikely because his criminal record would prevent him from returning to the United States.
He scored 10 goals in 92 games with the St. Louis Blues and New Jersey Devils over the course of his short NHL career.
Danton was released from a U.S. prison in March of last year after he was convicted in 2004 in a murder-for-hire plot. He returned to Canada and was granted full parole last September after admitting to the National Parole Board the target of the plot was his father.
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