Hilary Duff reveals she is dating Mike Comrie but they are not "boyfriend and girlfriend"

I think the doubt has now come to an end. Hilary Duff reveals she has been dating Mike Comrie a couple of times. But they are not "boyfriend and girlfriend". Shit! It does not seem to remove the confusion again, who is Hilary's Boyfriend.

Hilary says she and Mike have dated a couple of times

Singer says she may have to study up on hockey

Iain Ilich, The Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - Teen pop star Hilary Duff acknowledged Friday she's been dating hockey star Mike Comrie but says they've only been out a couple of times and they're not "boyfriend and girlfriend."

Duff, who performs at Rexall Place next week, also says she knows nothing about hockey but added: "Maybe I'm going to have to learn."

"Mike and I met a week ago, and we've been out a couple times, and it's like, he's great, he's really nice," the singer-actress said by phone from a plane on the tarmac at the Los Angeles International Airport.

"But we're not, like, boyfriend and girlfriend. You know, we've been to dinner a couple of times."

Will the Edmonton-born former Oiler, who now makes his home in Los Angeles, be coming to Edmonton when Duff performs at Rexall Place next Wednesday?

"I'm not sure," she laughs. "Maybe you'll see him there, maybe you won't."

Celebrity blogs around the world have been abuzz since the 26-year-old hockey player and the 19-year-old singer were photographed leaving a Santa Monica, Calif. restaurant on Wednesday evening. The reaction from TMZ.com blog readers has been mixed, from comments on Comrie's looks (some say he is big-headed, others say he is handsome), to hate-filled diatribes from hockey fans who feel jilted because of his unhappy departure from the Oilers.

Comrie was traded from the Oilers to the Philadelphia Flyers in 2003. He most recently played for the Stanley Cup finalist Ottawa Senators, but has since signed with the New York Islanders.

Born in Houston, Texas, Duff didn't grow up surrounded by sticks, pucks and nets, and she readily admits that she's new to the whole hockey thing.

"I was actually laughing with my friends, because I don't know anything about hockey."

Duff has also learned from experience about how tough it can be to maintain a relationship while on the road, touring constantly.

Her balanced view of the challenges posed by her career, and the trouble it can cause when it comes to sustaining a relationship, help her to keep her personal life in order.

"I think that I've never had it any other way, you know," says Duff, who spent most of her teenage years in show business.

"Of course, when you're younger, you have little boyfriends at school and stuff, and that doesn't really count.

"But the one serious relationship that I did have (with Good Charlotte vocalist Joel Madden), I was on tour for most of the time, and so was he, so it's like that is what's normal, and you just learn to deal with it.

"Sometimes it's good, you know," she continues. "It's definitely hard when you really care about someone and want to spend all your time with them to constantly be away and be in different cities and be in different time zones, and have totally different schedules. It gets kind of frustrating.

"But it's also nice to get to miss someone. We always want what we can't have, and living my life right now, if someone understands, then great. I'll work hard and they'll work hard, or whatever.

"But if not, it's not meant to be. That's my positive outlook on it," she laughs. "Sometimes it's not always that positive."

Duff kicks off her Canadian tour on Saturday in Winnipeg, with a stop in Edmonton on Wednesday.

iilich@thejournal.canwest.com