Ron Duguay, former Rangers star, dies from cancer at age 69

Ron Duguay, whose long, flowing hair and movie star looks made him a fan favorite with the Rangers in the late 1970s and early ’80s, died Thursday after a battle with colon cancer. He was 69.

“The New York Rangers organization mourns the loss of Ron Duguay, one of the most popular players in franchise history,” the team said in a statement. “Ron’s signature skating style — with his hair flowing as he moved down the ice — captivated the Garden faithful, and his skill, tenacity, and charisma earned him the admiration of all New Yorkers. We join the hockey community in sending our condolences to Ron’s friends, family, and loved ones during this difficult time.”

Duguay revealed his cancer diagnosis in February. On Oct. 11, his daughter, Shay Thomas, suggested her father had taken a turn for the worse, announcing in an Instagram post that the family “need[ed] all the prayers we can get.”

On Sunday, Duguay’s girlfriend, Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and a candidate for vice president in 2008 as a running mate of John McCain, posted a picture of herself holding Duguay’s hand and saying, “Prayers for Ron Duguay are so appreciated.” Palin and Duguay had been in a relationship since 2022.

On Thursday, Palin tweeted: “It’s with a shattered heart, but also deep peace knowing Ron is with Jesus now. He fought so hard. Love never ends.”

Duguay, who worked as an in-studio hockey analyst for MSG Network from 2007 to 2018, was one of the faces of the Rangers team that captured the city’s imagination when it reached the 1979 Stanley Cup Final — upsetting the favored Islanders in the semifinals — before losing to the Montreal Canadiens.

He was one of the players who were part of the series of television commercials for Sasson jeans, along with Phil Esposito, Dave Maloney, Ron Greschner and others.

“When we went to the Finals in ’79 and lost in Montreal . . . there were a bunch of us 24 and younger,’’ recalled Maloney, now the Rangers’ television analyst on MSG. “It was a pretty youthfully exuberant group. A group that eventually, the Sasson jeans people I guess decided that there was something to work with here.”

Duguay was born on July 6, 1957, and grew up in Sudbury, Ontario. He was drafted in the first round of two rival professional hockey leagues in 1977. The Rangers picked him No. 13 overall in the NHL Draft and the Winnipeg Jets chose him with the No. 3 pick in the WHA Draft. He signed with the Rangers and quickly became one of the faces of the team.

As part of his rookie hazing, Duguay had his signature long hair shorn by his veteran teammates, but the hair grew back. And as he played without a helmet, his free-flowing hair became the thing that quickly identified him on the ice and made him something akin to a matinee idol. At games in Philadelphia, the fans used to heckle him and call him “Pretty Boy.’’ But despite his good looks, he was plenty tough and could fight when necessary.

Duguay was one of the last players to skate without a helmet in the NHL.

He soon became one of the young players who embraced living in Manhattan, and on a team that liked to party, Duguay was one of the players who partied the hardest.

“He ate up the New York thing, got involved,’’ Maloney said.

“He was very outgoing, very popular among his teammates, and he was a pretty good player,’’ said Rick Carpiniello, a former Rangers beat writer who has written several books about the team. “I think he was maddening in that he was, to some coaches, like Herb [Brooks], he wasn’t a guy who just played the system. You know, he kind of free-wheeled a little bit, went his own way.”

Maloney, though, insisted that regardless of his lifestyle, at his core, Duguay was a good person and a good player.

“I don’t know that there’s an assumption there, that bon vivant Manhattanite, Andy Warhol, you had that whole thing, Studio 54, that he was involved in,’’ Maloney said. “But deep down, he was a good guy. He just went about his business. [And] he was a hell of a player for starters.”

Duguay led the Rangers in scoring with 76 points during the 1981–82 season, setting a career-high with 40 goals and earning his first All-Star selection.

He played 12 seasons in the NHL (1977-89) for four teams, including two stints with the Rangers. He had 274 goals and 346 assists in 860 regular-season games and added 31 goals and 22 assists in 89 playoff games. In 499 games with the Rangers, he had 164 goals and 176 assists, including 20 goals and 20 assists in 71 games as a 20-year-old rookie in 1977-78.

The Rangers traded him to Detroit in a six-player deal in the summer of 1983. He had two 30-goal seasons — including 38 goals and 51 assists in a career-high 89-point season — for the Red Wings before being traded to Pittsburgh during the 1985-86 season.

The Penguins traded him back to the Rangers in the middle of the 1986-87 season and the Rangers dealt him to the Kings in the 1987-88 season. He ended his NHL career with the Kings before playing one season in Germany and two in the International Hockey League. He retired as a player in 1992.

“It’s a big loss for all of us, the Rangers organization in particular,’’ coach Mike Sullivan said at the team’s morning skate Thursday in Toronto. “We know he was a very popular Ranger. I had the privilege to play with Ron for a year in the International Hockey League [with the San Diego Gulls]. A great man and a terrific hockey player.”

In his post-playing career, Duguay coached the minor-league Jacksonville Barracudas for four seasons, leading them to a playoff championship during the 2003–04 season in the independent WHA2.

Duguay was married twice, to model Robin Bobo, with whom he had two children, daughters Shay Thomas and Amber Stavros, and to Kim Alexis, with whom he had a son, Noah.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.