Ron Duguay, Rangers forward and Studio 54 fixture, dies at 69, Sarah Palin says

Ron Duguay died Thursday, Oct. 22, after a battle with colon cancer. He was 69. His girlfriend, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, relayed the news, as reported by the New York Post.

Duguay had been fighting stage 4 disease. His family said the cancer had spread to his liver.

The decline

The family went public with the diagnosis in February. Duguay was diagnosed in 2024, and the family said the cancer had been developing for roughly a year before the announcement. They started a GoFundMe for treatment and travel costs. It has raised more than $167,000, far above its original $26,000 goal, according to the fundraising page.

The family said he flew every two weeks from Florida to Orange County, California, where his daughters live, for treatment. He was treated at City of Hope in Southern California. Along the way he lost his appendix and gallbladder.

In July, Duguay fainted at home and was found unconscious. His daughter Shay Thomas said he was taken to the hospital by ambulance with facial injuries that cost him two natural teeth and all of his veneers. Doctors found severe dehydration, because he had been struggling to eat, along with varices, portal hypertensive gastropathy, internal bleeding and an ulcer.

On Oct. 11, Thomas posted a photo kneeling at her father's hospital bed. "I believe in the power of prayer, and right now, we need all the prayers we can get," she wrote.

Seven days later, on Oct. 18, Palin posted a photo to her Instagram Story of herself holding his hand in a hospital bed. "Prayers for Ron Duguay are so appreciated," she wrote.

The hockey career

Duguay was born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario. The Rangers took him 13th overall in the 1977 draft. He played 12 NHL seasons, from 1977 to 1989, mostly with the Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings.

His career totals were 864 games, 274 goals and 346 assists for 620 points. With the Rangers he scored 164 goals and added 176 assists. He was a fast, skilled, offense-first forward.

He played in the 1979 Stanley Cup Final, where New York lost to Montreal in five games. He still shares the franchise record for the fastest goal from the start of a game: nine seconds, against the Flyers on April 6, 1980.

After retiring, he worked as an analyst on MSG Network's Rangers coverage from 2007 to 2018.

More than a player

Duguay was as famous off the ice as on it. He was a regular at Studio 54, which did not please then-Rangers coach Herb Brooks.

He appeared in a Sasson jeans commercial with teammates Phil Esposito, Anders Hedberg and Dave Maloney, all singing "ooh la la." Rod Gilbert introduced him to Andy Warhol in 1980. Warhol put him on the cover of Interview and included his portrait in the "Athletes" series alongside Muhammad Ali, Tom Seaver and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

That connection reportedly led to a meeting with Steven Spielberg, who considered him for the lead in "Raiders of the Lost Ark." He didn't get the part.

He told TVA Sports in 2023 what Madison Square Garden did for him. "As soon as I stepped on the ice, I could feel the energy. You then become more than a hockey player. You become an artist, because you entertain."

He married model Robin Bobo in 1983 and later divorced. He married model Kim Alexis in January 1993. They divorced in 2016.

Palin's role

Palin and Duguay had been together since 2022, though they lived apart, she in Alaska and he in Florida. Thomas told Us Weekly in February that Palin had been involved throughout his illness. "If we ever need her for something, she would take a red-eye flight on short notice," Thomas said. She said Palin once stayed with Duguay in the hospital for five days after a surgery on his colon and liver. "We're incredibly grateful for her," Thomas said.

The family has not yet announced funeral or memorial arrangements.