No. 216: ANGELO ESPOSITO / He was projected to go No. 1 & light up the NHL. Then his star crashed. Some come away from teen hockey glory entitled, others traumatized, embittered.

The hockey establishment is kinda remarkable in its ability to judge its elite prospects--no more than one in ten washes out. Maybe one in 20. This is the cautionary tell. No one so high fell so far.

A few weeks back I posted a long, twisty account of chasing a story about a teenage hockey player who was trying to build a career while abiding by the tenets of his faith, Orthodox Judaism. If you missed it or want to refer back to it, hit the link here to No. 196: BENJAMIN RUBIN & TAMIR GOODMAN / Friday Night Lights Out.

(Note: I’ve taken the paywall down on the Rubin piece. You’ll need at least a trial paid subscription to access other stories in the archive.)