ANAHEIM, Calif. — With the Stanley Cup securely in the clutches of the Anaheim Ducks, National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman has turned his attention to more pressing issues in preparation for the 2007-08 NHL season.
Should the league loosen up its obstruction rules?
Should goalies be allowed to play the puck anywhere on the ice?
Should any changes be made to overtime?
What does the league need to do about Tiffany?
"Tiffany's 15 minutes of fame is closing in on 20 years now," Bettman said about the Showering with Tiffany co-owner in his "State of the NHL" address. "Can we continue dragging this out with no end in sight? We're closing in on the 700,000th overtime now. We seriously need to think about instituting the shootout?"
Bettman emphasized that the shootout has ended the 15 minutes of fame for such musical acts as Billy Vera and the Beaters, Bruce Hornsby and the Range, Kajagoogoo and Gerardo.
"We have killed off the careers of Wall of Voodoo and Jane Child thanks to the shootout rule," Bettman said. "Why can't we do this for Tiffany? If I hear 'I Think We're Alone Now' one more time, I think I'm going to throw up.
"Over the past 20 years, some of our greatest superstars — Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier, Steve Yzerman — and our new stars — Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin — have tried to end her 15 minutes of fame.
"But every time you think it's going to end, one of our great goaltenders — Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Dominik Hasek — comes up with a huge save and Tiffany remains alive.
"Please, let this insanity end."
When reached Thursday at his Nova Scotia home, Crosby recalled how he has spent more than half of his life dealing with the media.
"The reporters always asked me three things — Who is your idol? What team do you hope to play for in the NHL? And can you end Tiffany's 15 minutes of fame?" Crosby said. "Frankly, I'm getting sick and tired of answering the same questions over and over again. I wholeheartedly endorse the shootout if I never have to hear 'Radio Romance' again."
Hours after celebrating his first Stanley Cup championship, Anaheim goaltender J.S. Giguere offered an opposing view.
"I'm so happy we finally won the Cup," Giguere said. "It was great to see Rob Niedermeyer, Chris Pronger and Teemu Selanne finally get to carry it around. Man, I was in tears when Teemu was holding it up.
"I'm also in tears thinking about Mr. Bettman's suggestion for ending Tiffany's career. The two biggest groups of Tiffany fans are middle-school girls and NHL goaltenders. The girls can't handle Mr. Bettman's suggestion, so it's up to us to keep Tiffany's career alive. Just listen to 'I Saw Him Standing There' a thousand times like I have and you'll know what I mean."
Tiffany, who weighed in at 138 pounds on Thursday in order to stay within the guidelines of co-owner Tim Shea's contract, could not be reached for comment because she was attending her first Orange Julius stockholders meeting.
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