Ron Duguay, a 12-year NHL veteran most famous for his paparazzi-and-celebrity-filled time as a Ranger, died on Thursday after a battle with colon cancer, according to his girlfriend Sarah Palin. He was 69.
Drafted 13th overall by the Blueshirts in 1977, Duguay was a speedy and skillful offensive-minded forward whose feathered curls made him easily identifiable on the ice.
His six seasons in New York were highlighted by a run to the 1979 Stanley Cup Final, where the Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games. Over 499 games with the Rangers, Duguay finished with 164 goals and 176 assists for 340 points.
To this day, Duguay is still tied for the franchise record for the fastest goal scored from the start of the game, having netted one just nine seconds into a matchup against the Flyers on April, 6, 1980.
Madison Square Garden brought the best out of Duguay, whose widespread appeal made him a New York sensation.
“As soon as I stepped on the ice, I could feel the energy. You then become more than a hockey player,” he told TVA Sports in 2023. “You become an artist, because you entertain and you have an opportunity to make spectators jump out of their seats every time you make a check.”
Duguay was so much more than a hockey player during his time in the NHL. The boy from Sudbury, Ontario redefined the possibilities for professional hockey players and, in turn, boosted the league’s popularity.
The Sasson jeans commercial – in which Duguay and his Rangers teammates Phil Esposito, Anders Hedberg and Dave Maloney modeled the brand and memorably jingled “ooh la la” – is a notable intersection of sports and pop culture. Now, it’s just a fun piece of Rangers lore.
Duguay’s Hollywood look, Studio-54 lifestyle and fervor for life opened doors no other NHL player had walked through at the time.
In 1980, Rod Gilbert introduced Duguay to famous artist Andy Warhol, who went on to put No. 10 on the cover of his magazine, “Interview“, and featured his portrait in his “Athletes” series alongside the likes of Muhammad Ali, Mets great Tom Seaver, NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and more.
The introduction to Warhol led to a meeting with filmmaking royalty Steven Spielberg, who considered Duguay for the lead role in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” He didn’t get the part, but actress and model Farrah Fawcett reportedly came over to introduce herself at another event some time after.
Eventually, his romantic streak — which included a run-in with Cher in the late ’70s — led Duguay to California model Robin Bobo, whom he married in 1983 and later divorced.
He got remarried in January 1993 to Kim Alexis, spending two decades with the fashion model before divorcing in 2016.
Duguay, a pillar of the Studio 54 legacy (to the ire of former Rangers coach Herb Brooks), transcended his status as an NHL player.
“Ron is the type of player who hustles a lot out there and turns on the fans,” current Blue Jackets president and general manager Don Waddell said in 1991 when he was at the helm of the San Diego Gulls of the International Hockey League, per the Los Angeles Times.
“Doogie” began his hockey legacy playing for his hometown team, the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League, from 1973 to 1977.
Posting 134 points in 61 games during the 1975-76 campaign, Duguay helped the Wolves win the Hamilton Spectator Trophy as the best team in the regular season. The club ultimately lost in the J. Ross Robertson Cup finals to the Hamilton Fincups.
The Wolves retired Duguay’s jersey as part of the team’s 35th-anniversary celebration in September 2006.
Duguay represented Canada on the international stage twice. In addition to competing in the 1977 World Junior Championship, Duguay also donned the Maple Leaf at the 1981 Canada Cup.
Making stops in New York, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, Duguay racked up 864 games in the NHL. His final season in the league came with the Kings in 1988-89, which wrapped up his NHL career at 274 goals and 346 assists for 620 points.
Though it wasn’t the end of his hockey career. Duguay bounced around the minor leagues for a bit before retiring at the age of 41 in 1999. But hockey continued to call to Duguay into the early 2000s.
Arriving in Jacksonville to compete in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League in 2002, Duguay joined an injured Barracudas team. He appeared in six games as a player before the Barracudas fired their head coach Kurt Wickenheiser, which led to Duguay taking over behind the bench.
For four seasons, until 2006, Duguay served as the team’s head coach. He led the Barracudas to a championship during his first full season as bench boss in 2003-04. It was Jacksonville’s first hockey championship team.
“If it wasn’t for Ron, the Barracudas would not be here today,” Barracudas majority owner Steve Croskrey said when Duguay moved into an advisory role in 2006, per OurSports Central.
Duguay simply couldn’t stay off the ice.
In March 2009, nearly six years after playing his final professional game, a 51-year-old Duguay signed a two-day, two-game contract with the Brooklyn Aces and the Jersey Rockhoppers in the Eastern Professional Hockey League. He pledged his earnings to the Garden of Dreams Foundation, a nonprofit organization associated with Madison Square Garden.
That same year, Duguay competed in the inaugural season of CBC’s Battle of the Blades skating competition. He was partnered with Barbara Underhill and skated for World Vision Canada, a Christian relief, development, and advocacy charity organization.
It was his eight years in New York, however, that made Duguay one of the most well-known hockey players of all time. His love of Manhattan was obvious. The lifestyle. The culture. Everything about it.
He relished playing inside MSG. He relished being a Ranger.
“I’d rather have Duguay the way he plays than [Mike] Bossy the way he plays,” former Rangers head coach Fred Shero once said.
From 2007 to 2018, Duguay was also an analyst for MSG Network’s broadcast coverage of Rangers games.
Duguay is survived by his daughters Shay Thomas and Amber Stavros, and son Noah Duguay, as well as his grandchildren Aiden, Jayden, Cole, Nora and Ranger.