The Third Period - by David A Emma (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The pursuit of a dream can shape your life--even when it unfolds differently than you imagined.

What happens when the game you built your life around ends?

David Emma spent his early life chasing a dream few athletes ever reach. He became a college hockey star, won the Hobey Baker Award, represented the United States at the Olympics, and played professional hockey. Then, almost at once, two things disappeared: his career and the money he believed he had protected.

The Third Period is the story of what happened next.

Part memoir, part hard-earned guide to money, family, identity, and purpose, Emma looks back at the lessons he learned too late--and the ones that ultimately mattered most.

Using the three periods of a hockey game as a map for a working life, he explores the choices that shape us before success, during our earning years, and after the title, paycheck, or applause begins to fade.

The Third Period is not only a book for athletes. It is for anyone who has ever tied their identity to achievement, trusted without asking enough questions, or wondered what comes after the role that once defined them.

Because every game ends. The real question is who you become when it does. And what you choose to carry forward into the life still ahead.

About the Author

David Emma is a former professional hockey player, Olympian, and longtime financial advisor to professional athletes and their families. A native of Cranston, Rhode Island, Emma starred at Bishop Hendricken High School before attending Boston College, where he became one of the most decorated players in program history.

At Boston College, Emma was a two-time First-Team All-American, a two-time All-Hockey East First Team selection, the 1991 Hockey East Player of the Year and scoring champion, and the 1991 Hobey Baker Award winner, becoming the first player from both the Hockey East Association and Rhode Island to receive college hockey's highest individual honor. David Emma is the all-time leading scorer in Boston College History.

Emma represented the United States internationally, earning a silver medal at the 1990 Goodwill Games and competing in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, as well as the World Championships. He was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the 1989 NHL Draft and went on to play professionally for the New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins, and Florida Panthers, along with teams in the American Hockey League and Europe.

His honors also include being named 1991 Rhode Island Male Athlete of the Year, induction into the Boston College Athletics Hall of Fame, Bishop Hendricken Athletic Hall of Fame, Rhode Island Interscholastic League Hall of Fame, and the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame.

After his playing career, Emma entered financial services beginning his career with Merrill Lynch. David also has vast experience in real estate and is the former owner of the Dunkin' franchise in Southwest Florida. He left Merrill Lynch in 2011 to join Hightower Advisors, becoming managing partner of Hightower Naples. David will start a new chapter in 2027 when he joins The Bahnsen Group, a Hightower Company.

David has spent more than two decades advising professional athletes and families on wealth, transition, and life after sports. The Third Period is his first book.