In âChasing the Dreamâ, Ted Starkey looks at the American Hockey League, which has been the main developmental league for North American professional hockey since before I was born. Mr. Starkey examines the league from multiple angles â he looks at the league and its teams as businesses, and as a sport. He looks at the participants â players, management, and fans â as folks who are willing to work hard to get to the next level, or who realize that they need to work hard just to maintain their current status. He looks at history â and towards the future.

For the most part, Starkey alternates between a look at some aspect of the league as a whole and a peek at an individual franchise. .Those include long-standing teams (Rochester) and relatively new teams (Lehigh Valley), teams located in the same city as their NHL affiliate (Toronto), nearby (Bridgeport), and a distance away (Syracuse). Perhaps the only glaring omission was a passing glance at the new West Coast division, stating that it was a radical departure in historic league operations but not including any of the affected teams in the detailed analysis.

I'd looked forward to this book coming out, and acquired it / read it shortly after it was released. I was not disappointed.

RATING: 4 1/2 stars, rounded up to 5 stars where 1/2 stars are not permitted.

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