Lizard's Rant

Does anyone else remember when Beckett screwed up last year by declaring the Carolina Hurricane’s Stanley Cup Champions on their cover BEFORE they actually won? Here’s what I wrote back then:

Before Carolina’s Game 7 win in the Stanley Cup Finals the other night, they were already proclaimed champions by Beckett Hockey Magazine. Sixty thousand copies of the magazine were printed before Monday night with Eric Staal and Cam Ward on the cover celebrating Carolina’s Stanley Cup. At the time the decision was made the Hurricanes were ahead 3-1 in the series and appeared to be virtual locks for the championship. Edmonton rallied to tie the series at 3 games a piece and Beckett was forced to release a press release explaining that it “was a calculated risk” and “at that point in time it didn’t look too risky.” The Oilers had copies of the cover in their locker room for motivation, but thankfully for Beckett it didn’t help much.

Listen, I understand that sometimes you need to make business decisions like this. They probably have a deadline to get the magazine to print. But you can’t let it get out to the public. Especially before the series ended. I was rooting for Carolina (gotta root for USA right?) but it would have been great to see Edmonton win and see that cover hit the news stands. I don’t usually get Beckett Hockey but I sure would have picked up that issue!

So of course they wouldn’t make the same mistake AGAIN would they? Well, it seems as though they recognize the problem and for some reason don’t feel the need to correct it. The home page features an article showcasing a cover for both the Anaheim Ducks and the Ottawa Senators, yet the article inexplicably outlines the potential for the same problem to happen this year:

With The Finals scheduled to begin on Monday, May 28, and conclude no later than Monday, June 11, [editor Al] Muir sees only one minor issue facing his editorial staff.

“We’re scheduled to send this issue of Beckett Hockey to the printer on June 8, so we’re hoping this thing ends in five games,” Muir said. “If it goes to Game 6 or 7, we might have another tough decision to make.”

Hey Beckett - you could continue to repeatedly run into a brick wall every single year, or you could actually learn from your mistakes. What does having two covers accomplish if you still have to go to print before the series is over? Let’s hope for your sake that this is just a PR ploy and that you actually have a plan - like waiting until August to release your Stanley Cup Champion issue.