It's such a hassle waiting for events to run their course. Would the magazine business be more convenient if you could just predict what's going to happen?

That's basically the story with Beckett Hockey, a publication aimed at sports collectibles junkies.

Here's an excerpt from the CP story on EdmontonSun.com:

The issue had to be sent to the printers the morning after the second game of the series, says editor Al Muir. At that point, Edmonton had lost the first and second games and star goaltender Dwayne Roloson was out of the playoffs with a serious knee injury.

“It certainly looked like a safe bet that the Hurricanes would go on to win the Cup,” said Muir from Dallas.

“Edmonton lost their MVP-calibre goaltender in game one, and they looked frazzled getting blown out in game two, and at that point it looked pretty safe. But here we are three games later, and we’ve got a series on our hands.”

While Muir isn’t cheering for either team, he says he can’t help but hope Carolina wins for the sake of his magazine’s credibility.

But he remains optimistic that the issue will sell well no matter how the series ends.

“I think there’s certainly an element of collectibility that will come along with this if Edmonton pulls it off,” he says.

“People enjoy curiosities and this would certainly be something that they could remember years down the road, where we ended up with a little egg on our faces. It’ll be a unique item.”

My not-so-original theory? The magazine will be worth more as a collectible if the Oilers win, so Muir deliberately chose the wrong team to boost sales!