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Hockey Player Pleads Guilty in Attempted Murder-for-Hire Plot Jim Salter/Associated Press EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - A former professional hockey player admitted Friday that he tried to hire a hit man, almost certainly bringing his National Hockey League career to an end. Former St. Louis Blues player Mike Danton pleaded guilty to a federal murder-for-hire conspiracy charge and faces seven to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 22. The plot unraveled when the would-be hit man turned out to be a police informant. "Obviously, this is what I think is a good result," said prosecutor Stephen...

Hockey Pro Charged With Trying to Hire Hit Man Issues Statement Denouncing Family The Associated Press May 8, 2004 ST. LOUIS (AP) - The St. Louis Blues pro hockey player arrested on federal murder-for-hire charges claims in his first public statement that he was emotionally and physically abused during his childhood, a newspaper reported Saturday. Mike Danton called the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from jail Friday night and read a statement that focused on his relationship with his estranged parents, outlining allegations of "constant physical and emotional abuse" and saying he was raised in squalid conditions. His parents and family friends...

Center for St. Louis Blues Charged in Alleged Murder-for-Hire Scheme Apr 16, 2004 By Betsy Taylor/ Associated Press Writer ST. LOUIS (AP) - A center for the St. Louis Blues was arrested Friday in an alleged murder-for-hire scheme, the FBI said. Mike Danton, 23, was arrested at the airport in San Jose, Calif., after the Blues were knocked out of the NHL playoffs in a loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Illinois, Danton told a female friend that a hitman from Canada was coming to kill him and...