Category: Arts & Entertainment
Ron Duguay, the former New York Rangers center whose flowing hair and graceful skating made him a Madison Square Garden fixture, died Oct. 22 at 69 after a battle with stage 4 colon cancer.
His partner, Sarah Palin, announced his death and said she had been by his side through his illness. Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, wrote: “It's with a shattered heart but also deep peace knowing Ron is with Jesus now. He fought so hard. Love never ends.”
A Rangers spokesperson confirmed that the team had been informed by Duguay’s family. The club remembered him as “one of the most popular players in franchise history,” adding that his signature skating style and charisma “earned him the admiration of all New Yorkers.”
A Rangers star takes the Garden ice
Selected 13th overall by New York in the 1977 draft, Duguay spent his first six NHL seasons with the Rangers. The Sudbury, Ontario, native arrived as a young center and quickly became one of the team’s most recognizable figures.
His defining team achievement came in the 1978–79 season, when the Rangers advanced to the Stanley Cup Final against the Montreal Canadiens. New York’s run gave Duguay a place in one of the franchise’s landmark campaigns and brought the Garden crowd into the drama of hockey’s championship stage.
The Rangers did not win the Cup, but the Final run established an enduring chapter in Duguay’s New York career.
In an era before helmets were mandatory, Duguay’s long, wavy hair streamed behind him as he moved across the ice, an image inseparable from his appeal and one of the reasons he became one of the Rangers’ most popular players.
A peak season and a long NHL career
Duguay reached the NHL All-Star Game in 1981–82, producing at a point-a-game pace for the Rangers. The selection marked the high point of his individual achievements in New York and underscored his standing among the league’s prominent forwards.
His NHL career extended well beyond his first six years with the Rangers. Duguay also played for the Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings, with another stint in New York. Across regular-season and playoff games, he accumulated 673 points.
He played nearly 1,000 NHL games through the late 1970s and 1980s, then continued his hockey career in Germany and the minors.
A familiar voice for a new generation
Years after retiring as a player, Duguay returned to the Rangers’ orbit as a broadcaster. He worked in that role from 2007 to 2018, bringing a familiar name and firsthand playing experience to a new generation of fans.
His story bridged different eras of Garden hockey: from the helmetless days when his hair flowed across the ice to a later period when he spoke to fans from the broadcast booth.
Tributes and a difficult final chapter
Duguay’s illness brought a painful end to that public chapter. His family started a GoFundMe earlier this year to help cover travel and treatment costs. In recent months, his daughter Shay Thomas and Palin had also shared requests for prayers as his condition progressed.
The NHL Alumni Association remembered Duguay’s dedication and passion for hockey as unwavering. It said he would be remembered “not only for the player he was, but for the extraordinary person he was.”
At Madison Square Garden, the memory of Duguay begins with movement: a Rangers player cutting across the ice, dark hair trailing, the bright arena above him and a crowd following his path. His legacy in New York rests on an All-Star season, a run to the Stanley Cup Final, a long professional career and an unusual connection with the Garden crowd, one shaped by skill, showmanship and a presence fans could recognize before the puck reached his stick.