Book excerpt: Mike Jefferson started out as a suburban kid who dreamed of making it to the NHL, with parents determined to do anything and everything to make their son’s dream come true. So how did this promising young man’s hockey career turn into a harrowing crime story played out in sensational news reports? Coach and agent David Frost fast-tracked Jefferson’s route to the NHL, but at a staggering cost. Along the way, the affable young man turned against his parents, changed his name to Danton, and descended into a spiral of paranoia and violence that finally cut short the career he had sacrificed everything for when he was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder. In this fast-paced and gripping story, veteran hockey journalist Steve Simmons digs beneath the surface to answer questions that have left Canadians shocked and fascinated. How did Frost get such a grip on Danton and his family? How did Frost work himself into such a position of trust in the world of minor hockey? What exactly was Danton’s relationship with Frost? And who was it that Danton hired a hitman to kill—his father or his agent? Full of the insights from one of Canada’s most-trusted hockey columnists, who is intimately familiar with both minor hockey and the big leagues, The Lost Dream is the story of the dark side of our fascination with a game Canadians love.