Ron Duguay, the Sudbury, Ontario-born winger who made his name in a New York Rangers sweater, died Thursday at age 69, Newsweek reports. His partner, former Alaska Gov. and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, posted a farewell message on Instagram.
“It’s with a shattered heart, but also deep peace knowing Ron is with Jesus now,” Palin wrote. “He fought so hard. Love never ends,” as quoted by Newsweek.
Duguay’s daughter, Shay Thomas, delivered the news as well.
“Our hearts are broken. We love you forever, Dad,” Thomas wrote, as quoted by Newsweek. The Rangers, who made Duguay a first-round pick in 1977, remembered him as “one of the most popular players in franchise history.”
But what was the cause of Duguay’s death less than four decades past the end of his NHL playing career?
Ron Duguay’s Cause of Death and Cancer Timeline
“Duguay revealed in February that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in late 2024,” WBAL-TV reported. “He said the cancer spread beyond his colon and required surgery involving his appendix and gallbladder.”
It was that bout with cancer that caused Duguay’s death about two years later.
Duguay learned of the disease in December 2024, at age 67, and told almost no one for more than a year, according to a report by The Hockey Beast. By the time the family went public in February, the cancer had reached Stage 4 and spread to his liver.
Surgeons removed his appendix and gallbladder. Chemotherapy followed, along with a hepatic pump. Then came July, when Duguay fainted at home, knocked out teeth and landed in the hospital, according to Fox News reporter Scott Thompson.
Doctors found severe dehydration, internal bleeding and an ulcer, all tied to pressure building inside his liver. Thomas noted that the pressure was tied to “surgery, chemotherapy, and the pump.”
Duguay lived in Florida but sought treatment in California, near his daughters, who started a GoFundMe in February.
“I find it extremely hard asking for funds for all these costs I’m going through,” Duguay said at the time, as quoted by Yahoo!. “Normally, I’m helping others.”
The median age at colon cancer diagnosis for men is 68, according to Healthline. Nine of every 10 patients are older than 50, according to Mayo Clinic, though diagnoses in younger adults keep climbing.
Stage 4 is the hardest to beat. Only 13 percent of patients live five years past that diagnosis, according to the American Cancer Society figures cited by Healthline, and doctors rarely cure it. His family called the cancer aggressive, according to CTV News.
Ron Duguay’s Rangers Career, Family and Sarah Palin
Duguay was born July 6, 1957, in Sudbury, Ontario, and piled up 134 points for the hometown Sudbury Wolves in 1975-76, according to Hockey DB. The Rangers drafted him 13th overall in 1977. He skated in the 1979 Stanley Cup Final.
Over a career that ran through 1989, he suited up for the Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings. He played 864 games, scoring 274 goals with 346 assists. He later worked as an MSG Network analyst on Rangers broadcasts.
Duguay married model Robin Bobo in December 1983, and they had two daughters, Thomas and Amber Stavros, before they divorced. He wed supermodel Kim Alexis in 1993. They had a son, Noah, and divorced in 2016, according to People magazine. His grandchildren include Aiden, Jayden, Cole, Nora and Ranger.
In disco-era New York, he frequented Studio 54, appeared in Sasson jeans ads and was linked to such glamorous celebrity women of the era as Cheryl Tiegs, Bianca Jagger, Cher, Patti LuPone and Farrah Fawcett.
His best-known later partner is Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. They went public around 2022, after her divorce, and she stayed with him through the illness. Palin, 62, posted a photo of herself holding his hand in a hospital bed days before his death and asked for prayers, according to Newsweek.
Palin said a celebration of Duguay’s life will be announced at a later time.
Ron Duguay Cause of Death: How Did Fan Favorite Rangers Star Die at 69?