A Season in Time

Super Mario, Killer, St. Patrick, the Great One, and the Unforgettable 1992-93 NHL Season

By: Todd Denault

Narrated by: Ken Maxon

Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

A celebration of the 20th anniversary of one of the greatest seasons in hockey history

Twenty years after the fact, the mere mention of the 1992-93 NHL season brings back vivid memories for hockey fans across North America. The last time that the Montreal Canadiens hoisted the Stanley Cup, Wayne Gretzky's last appearance in a playoff final, and Mario Lemieux's most inspirational season, these years are rightly considered some of the greatest in NHL history. Now, in A Season in Time: Super Mario, Killer, St. Patrick, the Great One, and the Unforgettable 1992-93 NHL Season, acclaimed hockey writer Todd Denault looks back to those heady days.

The story of a truly magical age for hockey in North America, a time that came to be known as "the last great season", where hope reigned, where the unthinkable seemed possible, and some of the greatest legends the game has ever seen took to the ice, A Season in Time is a true trip down memory lane. Covering the stories of Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Patrick Roy, and Doug Gilmour, and capturing the frenzy and excitement that hasn't been seen since, the book is essential listening for hockey lovers of all ages.

• Captures the passion, the glory, and the magic of one of the greatest NHL seasons of all time
• Celebrates the 20th anniversary of the 1992-1993 season
• Covers everything from Patrick Roy's legendary goaltending exhibition to Wayne Gretzky's famous high stick on Doug Gilmour to Kerry Fraser's blown call

Insightful and informative, A Season in Time is a loving look back at a season for the ages.

©2012 Todd Denault (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Why Can't Narrators Pronouce Names Correctly?

If you could sum up A Season in Time in three words, what would they be?

Detailed, accurate, pronounciation

Who was your favorite character and why?

All of the players and coaches

Did Ken Maxon do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes and no. The pronunciation of many player names was horrible. I'm a longtime hockey fan and am very familiar with all of the players and coaches covered in this book. Ken Maxon butchered many of the names to the point that it detracted from the presentation. I don't understand why the producers of audio books do not insist that their narrators learn how to properly pronounce names especially in sports books.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

Overall, this is an excellent account of a great NHL season but again, names, names, names. Get them right!

Apparently they make you give at least 1 star

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Book? Yes.Audiobook? No.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

About 70% of the names in the book were mispronounced. It's like they found someone who has never seen, heard of, or talked about hockey before, and told him to interpret the names however you see fit.Some of these names I can understand... Pronouncing "Roy" the way it's spelled in English? I guess that's understandable. "Pierre Page" as "Paige?" OK, if that's your only mistake, I can look the other way...

Other names were simply laughable. "Rick toeSHAY," "Sergei Savard," "TEA-mew suh-LAYNE,"... the list goes on and on. "Bure" does not rhyme with "sure." "Turgeon" doesn't rhyme with "sturgeon." You would hope that at some point, the producer would be able to help the narrator out.

If it were a couple of names here and there, I would completely understand, but i would venture to say that there were more mispronounced names than ones correctly pronounced.

Overall, the narrator completely distracted from the beautiful storyline.

Do you think A Season in Time needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Not sure... I guess it would be about the 1993-94 season, right?

Any additional comments?

Audible - please find a producer with SOME kind of hockey knowledge.Or, at the very least, someone who is willing to ask how different names are pronounced.

Terrific book, terrible narration

Where does A Season in Time rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I have not listened to many sports books yet, but this is an excellent one.

What did you like best about this story?

It was a very detailed and engaging look back at an NHL season I remember quite fondly from when I was growing up. I remembered several things I haven't thought of in years and learned quite a bit as well.

Would you be willing to try another one of Ken Maxon’s performances?

Only if I was sure that he knew the source material he was speaking about first-hand. It is very, very, very clear that Mr. Maxon was not very knowledgeable on hockey as several names were mispronounced throughout the book. At times it was unintentionally hilarious, but plenty of other times it was grating and painful to listen to. I cannot believe that the audiobook was allowed to be released with so many errors. Mr. Maxon's voice and delivery were smooth and pleasant though (to the point where he almost sounded automated) and I wouldn't mind listening to another of his performances, but I would prefer something fictional where I did not know the characters ahead of time. This way I would not be so bothered by the potential butchering of historical names.

Any additional comments?

Narrative issues aside, I would gladly recommend this book to any hockey fan.

Story is OK if you can get past the narrator

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Todd Denault does a fine job of recreating a memorable NHL season. It was a good reminder of how the game was played by some of its greatest stars.

Would you be willing to try another one of Ken Maxon’s performances?

The narrator needed to do his homework on how to pronounce names of the key players. It's clear he didn't even try. Miss a name here or there, OK. But every name? Some names had multiple mispronounciations over the course of the book. He even pronounced a ".500" record" as "point 5-0-0 record." This performance ruined any possible enjoyment of this book and is an insult to fans and the author.

Was A Season in Time worth the listening time?

It could have been with a narrator who cared to do a passable job with the text.

Great material, not so great narration

Audio book gets a four...the material is great, but the narrator mispronounced so many names. The one that grated me the most was "Roy". When talking about the legendary goalie, it's pronounced "Wah", not "Roy" like Roy Rogers. That was just the most glaring of name mispronunciations. Think I'll have to get the print or ebook to truly enjoy this one.

Pronunciation Is Key

Overall story was interesting but as a hockey fan and an audio book fan I am sooooo tired of narrators not being able to pronounce names. I don't necessarily blame the narrator because his read was good but whoever the producer of this and every other hockey book I've listened to needs to call a hockey historian and get a phonetic list of names. I cringe every time I hear a badly pronounced name. Please, please I implore you to take the extra time to make this situation better.

Good story, terrible narrator

The narrator almost ruined this book for me. While a well written book about a memorable season, the poor narrator's constant mispronunciation of names speaks to a complete lack of hockey knowledge. Whoever oversaw the narration should have done so much more to help get the names right. Very disappointing.

Names????!??????

Unfortunately narrator was not schooled in the pronunciation of the names written in the book. Why would someone not check on that?

Excellent Book

I thought this book was great. Such a fun listen about an excellent time for the sport I love. Listening about Gretzky, Doug Gilmour, Grant Fuhr, Mario and all the other players I grew up watching and loving was incredible. That said, the narrator had a great storytelling voice but I'm not sure he was able to pronounce one name correctly, which is really annoying.

ok narration

good read but Narrator mispronunciations were distracting. I wish he would if familiarized himself better