[yssaponce]

At this time of year, it all comes down to the last second.

Picking a cover for Beckett Hockey in the midst of the playoffs requires a leap of faith. The trick is to choose an athlete with a good chance to still be active when the magazine hits newsstands two weeks later. And as we all know, there are no sure things.

The final decision for the June issue won't be made until next Wednesday, May 9, but planning has to be done well in advance. Photos have to be selected, designs worked and re-worked, and a story has to be created to support the cover. That means several features can be written--and discarded--in the days leading up to press time as our options are eliminated.

For example, up until very early Wednesday morning, the plan was to go with Vancouver's Roberto Luongo for issue #195. He's having a great postseason, he gets some hobby love, and he'd be a fresh face. But his name was scratched off the list when his Canucks dropped Game 4 at home and fell behind 3-1 in their series with the Ducks. They may yet come back, but we're not holding our breath.

Joe Thornton, who is enjoying his finest postseason to date with the Sharks, was promoted to the top of the list. If San Jose had managed to hold on to their 2-1 lead and take a 3-1 advantage in the series last night, today would have been spent looking for cover-worthy photos and working up a feature concept. Instead, the Wings pulled Dominik Hasek, and Robert Lang sent the game to overtime when he scored with just 33 seconds remaining. Detroit went on to win the contest in OT and tied the series at two games apiece. And just like that, Thornton was dropped from a best bet to just another name in the pack.

Fortunately, a couple of series should be over in the next couple days, which will give us a bit of time to finalize plans. But once again, there are no easy bets. We'll just have to make a call and hope for the best.

One thing's for sure--I won't be predicting the Cup winner for the June cover.

I'm saving that for July.
-- Al Muir