FanHouse HilaryDuff

In a surprising move, the Ottawa Senators have acquired defenseman Chris Campoli and center Mike Comrie from the New York Islanders in exchange for Dean McAmmond and a first-round pick (originally belonging to San Jose) in the 2009 NHL draft, according to the Islanders website.

This move makes little sense for Ottawa, unless general manager Bryan Murray has another deal on the horizon. If he doesn't, well, then he's either under the delusion that his team, currently 13 points out of the final playoff spot, is primed to make a serious run in the final weeks of the season, or he's completely lost his mind and is trying to George Costanza his way out of a job.

This has certainly been THE summer for NHL celebrity romances. Not long after we got word that MILF Hunter Jarret Stoll is going to get hitched to Rachel Hunter, and Dan Hinote getting engaged to a Playboy "playmate", we get word that Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie are getting ready to take their relationship to the next level.

From Hollyscoop.com, it seems the paparazzi scoped out the happy couple and caught Duff sporting with what looks like an engagement ring.

Hilary Duff has sparked engagement rumors after she was photographed leaving Hollywood hotspot Il Sole sporting a ring on her wedding finger Friday night.

Duff, who has been dating her hockey player beau Mike Comrie for a little over a year, wasn't trying hard to hide the ring. As soon as she saw the paps snap her photo, she casually flashed the ring while pretending to fix her hair.

Of course, Hilary Duff is a pro at the celeb hounding game and knows that she can keep her name in the media hungry by throwing them a bone or two, but leaving them guessing.

While it might look like Comrie would benefit from the fame and fortune of Hilary Duff's family-friendly entertainment empire, keep in mind that Comrie is heir to a large furniture chain. I'd say Duff did well for herself.

Relationships between Americans and Canadians require some amount of work to get around all of the cultural and other differences between the two countries. Besides differing views on health care, accents (ask a Canadian how to say 'futile'), and months in which to celebrate Thanksgiving, Americans have to know a thing or two about hockey if they are to successfully date and mate with a Canadian.

It should be no surprise, then, that the sugary Hilary Duff has a few things to learn if she's going to continue dating her hockey-playing beau, New York Islanders' center Mike Comrie.

From People Magazine, her sister, Haylie, spills the beans:

"I actually caught her with a copy of the Hockey for Dummies book," Duff, 22, said at the opening of the Foley+Corinna store in West Hollywood. Big sis says she "adores" Comrie – and says it's actually distance that makes things work between him and 20-year-old Hilary. "He lives in New York and she lives here, and they really put in a big effort to see each other."

Awww, isn't that cute. Perhaps we ought to pick up a copy of "Dating Overpaid Self-Absorbed Celebrities for Dummies" for Mike Comrie, so that he's on an even level in this relationship?

Previously on FanHouse:
Mike Comrie Gets a Public Duffing.
Mike Comrie Just Made Life Miserable ...
Hockey Player Mike Comrie Snags Hillary Duff

Sorry, No Photos

So it looks as if New York Islanders center Mike Comrie is getting more than comfortable in his new gig, both on and off the ice. Not only do his Islanders sit tied atop the Atlantic Division standings, but apparently his new flame - Hilary Duff - is getting comfortable sitting atop the free agent centerman.

From The Sun:

The pretty actress - who shot to fame in kids' TV show Lizzie Maguire - treated her ice hockey star boyfriend Mike Comrie to the saucy performance at exclusive New York hot spot Tenjune.

A partygoer said: "Hilary was having a wild night, drinking Veuve Clicquot straight out of the bottle. "She looked nothing like the sweet little Lizzie Maguire she once was as she treated Mike to a series of raunchy lap dances.

"The place was packed but Hilary didn't mind."

Currently, Mike Comrie leads the Islanders in scoring with 15 points through his first 12 games -- including two assists in last night's 3-2 win over the Rangers. There is certainly some optimism coming out of the Island these days; let's hope that Comrie can take a page out of Duff's book and can perform just as capably in front of a packed house.

Here's how it works, puckheads: Gain a Hilary Duff, lose a Kellie Pickler from the ranks of hockey girlfriend hotties. The former American Idol contestant (she's the one standing to the right of a disturbingly muscular Carrot Top) was dating Nashville Predators winger Jordin Tootoo, but she indirectly told a Chicago radio station last week that the couple was done. OK! Magazine reports today that Pickler not only told a Michigan concert audience that she and Tootoo had split up, but also gave him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty:

The 21-year-old singer confessed to the screaming crowd saying that her former boyfriend, Nashville Predator hockey player Jordin Tootoo, cheated on her. Joking to concertgoers, she said she hoped Jordin got his teeth knocked out during that night's game.

Please send well-wishes and support to Miss Pickler on her official MySpace page, where the Charlotte Observer reports all of Tootoo's photos have been removed.

Meanwhile...Jordin, dude: There are plenty of other former American Idol losers in the sea. Katharine McPhee. Diana DeGarmo. Personally, I've always been a Nikki McKibbin man myself.Sorry, No Photos
Previously on FanHouse:
Tootoo Loves Him Some Kellie Pickler T-Shirts

(Meanwhile, inside the New York Islanders locker room...)

"Hey, whaddya get your girl for her birthday?"

"Ah, you know, the usual: Flowers from the local Shop 'n Save, a necklace from Target, dinner at that Italian place she likes so much, Sbarro. What about you, Comrie?"

"Oh, you know, nothing too fancy. Just a tricked-out new Mercedes-Benz G-class SUV with AMG-built 493-horsepower V-8 engine, solid axles, 18-inch AMG slotted monoblock titanium-finish wheels and 79.5 cubic feet of cargo space. Just something to get her from here to there."

Thanks, Mike Comrie. Thanks a lot. From People.com:

Hilary Duff's expectations were low when her hockey player boyfriend, Mike Comrie, called recently to say he'd picked out an early 20th birthday present for her and that "I hope you like them."

"Okay, it's shoes or something," Duff recalled thinking as she went to her sister's house, where Comrie had said he left the present in the garage. "I opened the garage, and I was just like shocked, just standing there." Before her, with a big red bow on top, was a Mercedes-Benz G-class SUV (retail price: more than $100,000).

Later in the article, the soon-to-be-20-year-old pop princess Duff is asked about the potential for an engagement to Comrie, whom she started dating earlier this year. Duff scoffed at the notion, and why not: At the current escalation rate of her boyfriend's gifts, she should have her own Cessna by Christmas 2008.

Gallons of delicious Duff are being poured at TMZ.com.