David Frost (sports agent)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

David Frost is a controversial former sports agent, best known as the target of a murder-for-hire plot by one of his clients, former St. Louis Blues forward Mike Danton.

Prior to Danton's highly publicized arrest and trial, Frost achieved a degree of notoriety among some hockey insiders for his alleged Svengali-like control of certain players whom he coached (and later "represented" in various roles). On August 22, 2006 Frost was charged with 12 counts of sexual exploitation by the Ontario Provincial Police for crimes alleged during 1995-2001. The charges relate to his time as coach of the Quinte Hawks Junior hockey team and involve acts on three females and four males between the ages of 14 and 16.

1 "Brampton Boys" regime
2 Frost vs the Jeffersons
3 Relationship with Mike Danton
4 Resignation
5 2006 and Beyond
6 External links
7 References

[edit] "Brampton Boys" regime

Frost got his start as a coach with the Toronto Young Nationals, an Atom club where he coached, among others, Mike Jefferson (who later changed his name to Mike Danton), Sheldon Keefe, and Joe Goodenow (son of then NHLPA Head Bob Goodenow). He was banned from coaching in the Metro Toronto Hockey League when it was revealed he forged the signature of the club's general manager. He then took his "Brampton Boys", including Danton and Keefe to the Quinte Hawks, a Metro Junior A Club based out of Deseronto, Ontario. He was suspended from the Hawks after he allegedly assaulted a Hawks player. It was also revealed in a CBC documentary that he allowed numerous sexual acts to occur in his hotel room between his players and teenage girls (referred to as puck bunnies) while he watched.

Despite being suspended by Quinte, his "Brampton Boys" were drafted the following season, by OHL teams; and Frost was known to frequently attend Sarnia Sting games to monitor the progress of Mike Jefferson. As a result, Jefferson was dealt to the Toronto St. Michael's Majors (St. Mike's), where he would reunite with Sheldon Keefe, Ryan Barnes and Shawn Cation, who rounded out the rest of Frost's "Brampton Boys". There were reports of conflict between Frost and the St. Mike's front office, and eventually all of Frost's "Brampton Boys" were traded to the Barrie Colts. Many hockey insiders questioned the eight player trade due to the fact that St. Mike's traded all four of their best players for players of little value, but a source close to St. Mike's said the deal was done so management would not have to deal with Frost. It is reported that during the "Brampton Boys" tenure with the Barrie Colts, the locker room was extremely divided due to behavioral issues with Jefferson, Keefe, Cation and Barnes. The division was so bad, it prompted many Colts players to refer to Jefferson and Keefe as "cancers" in the locker room.

[edit] Frost vs the Jeffersons

David Frost first approached Danton's parents, Steve and Sue Jefferson, in 1991, successfully recruiting Mike for the Young Nationals. The Jeffersons indicate that their son's recruiter, who later became his agent, wielded a growing influence over their son in the years that followed. As time passed, Frost's influence grew beyond the business of hockey. If Mike wasn't at school or playing hockey, Danton would spend most of his time with Frost. Steve Jefferson would go watch Danton play, but wasn't allowed contact with his son before or after the games.

In the summer of 2000, Mike's younger brother Tom Jefferson, then 13, was allowed to take part in a weekend retreat at Frost’s cottage in Kingston, attended also by his older brother Mike and other young hockey players. Upon returning home, Tom was sullen and withdrawn. In June of 2001, the parents provided Dr. Brian Shaw, a psychologist with the National Hockey League Players' Association, with photographs that had been taken that weekend, including one of Tom naked and bound to a bed with duct tape, and another with Frost pointing a rifle at the child.^[1]

Shaw, as obligated by law, presented the evidence of child abuse to authorities, and an investigation ensued. Further details of that weekend emerged, including allegations that Tom was forced to eat pancakes that were spat on by Frost; he was shot at with a BB gun while hanging from a tree branch; and that he was ordered to dance naked atop a table for hours. Frost and five other witnesses dismissed the entire incident as a hazing ritual that had been young Tom's idea to start with, and the investigation was closed.^[1]

In July of 2002, Mike Jefferson legally changed his name to Michael Sage Danton. David Frost later told the media that the player had changed his name in order to officially separate himself from his family.

Frost and Danton subsequently claimed that the Jefferson family had abused Mike, that they lived in squalor and had abused drugs and alcohol, a claim for which there is no evidence, and that the Jeffersons deny.

[edit] Relationship with Mike Danton

It has been known in most hockey circles that the relationship between Frost and Mike Danton is unusual. What started as a player-coach relationship had turned into a nightmare for the Jefferson family. Frost had moved into the Jefferson's Brampton, Ontario neighbourhood and Danton spent most of his time at Frost's home. In an interview with Sue Jefferson, she said that on Christmas Day, Danton only came home for an hour to eat and Frost would be at the door to pick him up. Interviews with other sources have said that Danton would call Frost on his high school breaks and lunch hours when he wasn't attending classes. A hockey teammate said that when Danton would leave the rink after practice, he'd be the first to leave and then call Frost right away. Many have felt that he has had a svengali-type relationship with Danton, which suggested a power and control relationship. When Danton began his NHL career, Frost became a certified player agent with the NHLPA and he negotiated Danton's contracts. Recently, it is believed that Frost only became an agent, despite his past convictions because of his close ties to Bob Goodenow.

Sheldon Kennedy, a former NHL player who was sexually abused by his own junior coach, mentions Mike Danton in his 2006 book 'Why I didn't say anything'. "Frost became Danton's mentor, coach, and agent, and Danton followed his hockey and life instructions in a way other coaches have described as cultlike." Kennedy also quotes an official from the Greater Toronto Hockey League who stated that Frost "practiced mind control".

In a the fifth estate documentary aired in Canada, recordings of post-arrest phone conversations with the jailed Mike Danton include Frost asking Danton if he loved him and to say "I Love You" to him over the phone. This helped to fuel speculation that Frost was maintaining an inappropriately controlling relationship with Danton.

[edit] Resignation

On 6 December 2005, the NHL Players Association (NHLPA) announced that Frost has resigned as an NHL player agent. Frost's resignation came shortly after the NHLPA launched an investigation into his certification shortly after the airing on CBC of Rogue Agent, a documentary looking into Frost's relationship with Mike Danton, and evidence of child abuse perpetrated against Danton's younger brother.

[edit] 2006 and Beyond

Frost resigned from the NHLPA and opened up the Juice Nightclub in Kingston, Ontario in partnership with his nephew Jeremy Frost who was a popular promoter within the Kingston nightclub circle. However, David Frost's reputation proceeded him and the nightclub was the subject of much negative media attention. In August 2006, David Frost was arrested in front of the Juice Nightclub on 12 counts of sexual exploitation and 1 count of assault. This event has been said to have severed ties with Jeremy Frost (David Frost's nephew), therefore ending their partnership, and ultimately resulting in the closure of the Juice Nightclub on October 1, 2006.(Kingston Whig Standard November 2006)

On March 23, 2007 Frost was also charged with fraud, impersonation and breach of probation for allegedly trying to purchase nearly $90 in gasoline by using a credit card registered to Mike Danton.