Ron Duguay

Ronald Duguay (born July 6, 1957) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach who played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1977 through 1989, and served four seasons as a minor league coach. As a player, he played in the 1979 Stanley Cup Final with the New York Rangers.

He appeared as an in-studio analyst during MSG Network's coverage of the New York Rangers from 2007 to 2018. He was born in Sudbury, Ontario, and as a child resided in Val Caron, Ontario.

With the Rangers, Duguay set a team record, for the fastest goal at the start of a game, at 9 seconds, on April 6, 1980, against the Philadelphia Flyers. Suffering injuries, his production did not progress as hoped, but after playing for Canada senior team in the 1981 Canada Cup, his play improved, and in 1981–82, he led the Rangers in scoring with 40 goals. That same season, he played in the NHL All-Star Game, representing the Rangers on the Wales Conference squad. In 1982–83, Duguay's numbers dropped, and he only scored 19 goals. Rangers coach Herb Brooks clashed with Duguay over his play and popularity in New York's night life, and on June 13, 1983, Duguay, Eddie Mio and Ed Johnstone were traded to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Willie Huber, Mark Osborne and Mike Blaisdell.

During Duguay's time with the Rangers, he took part in some of team president Sonny Werblin's schemes to make the Rangers more hip and visible in disco-era New York City. This includes singing on "Hockey Sock Rock", written by Alan Thicke. The song featured vocals by Duguay, Phil Esposito, Pat Hickey, Dave Maloney and John Davidson. It was released as a 45, as Platinum Records 1217–75 in 1979.

Detroit Red Wings Playing in Detroit, Duguay's career was revitalized, and in 1983–84 he was third on the Red Wings with 33 goals, and second on the team with 47 assists, which placed him third overall on the team for points, with 80. In 1984–85 he was second on the Red Wings in all three categories, with 38 goals, 51 assists and 89 total points, the best offensive season of his career. At the trade deadline in 1985–86 Duguay was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Doug Shedden.

Pittsburgh Penguins Duguay played parts of only two seasons in Pittsburgh, and his production was never as good again as it had been in New York or Detroit. On January 21, 1987, Pittsburgh traded Duguay to his original team, the Rangers, in exchange for Chris Kontos, reuniting Duguay with former teammate, and then-Rangers general manager, Phil Esposito.

Return to the Rangers Duguay re-signed with the Rangers in the summer of 1987.

It was towards the end of his second stint with the Rangers that Duguay was sent to the minors for the first time, playing two games with the Colorado Rangers of the International Hockey League (IHL).

Los Angeles Kings After briefly returning to the Rangers, Duguay finished his NHL career with the Los Angeles Kings in 1988–89. Attempted comebacks with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1990, as well as with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where Phil Esposito was the general manager in 1992, were not successful.

Post-NHL career

San Diego Gulls Duguay's career continued in the minor leagues for a few years after his final NHL season. He played 22 games in Europe with Mannheim ERC of the German Bundesliga during the 1989–90 season, then returned to the United States where he played two seasons in the IHL with the San Diego Gulls. Following the 1991–92 season he retired, but three years later resumed playing, again, for the new incarnation of the San Diego Gulls, who were now members of the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL). Duguay explained that he was inspired to return to playing to help the then injury-riddled team; he also said that he wanted his children, who had been too young to see him play in the NHL, to see him in action.

Duguay finished the 1995–96 season with the Gulls, recording eight goals and nine assists in 12 games. Over the next two seasons, Duguay played in just five games for the Gulls. In 1998–99, he joined to the Jacksonville Lizard Kings of the (East Coast Hockey League), but skated in just one game before commencing his second retirement.

Jacksonville Barracudas In 2003, he joined the Jacksonville Barracudas, then playing in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League (ACHL). Duguay played six games as a Barracudas forward, then took over as the team's head coach. In the 2003–04 season Duguay led the Barracudas, now playing in the World Hockey Association 2, to the league's best record and playoff championship. In 2004, the Barracudas joined the newly-formed Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). With Duguay as coach, the Barracudas' overall record over parts of three seasons was 92–92–0–3 with a 6–3 playoff record. Duguay resigned as coach after an unsuccessful 2005–06 season, in which more than 50 different players left the team as it finished with a 15–39–0–2 record. On his resignation, he told the Florida Times-Union that he was "tired."

Broadcasting career From 2007 to 2018, Duguay was an analyst for MSG Network's television coverage of New York Rangers games, also appearing regularly on MSG's weekly Hockey Night Live! program. Duguay's contract with MSG expired in 2018 and was not renewed.

On March 21 and 22, 2009, nearly six years after playing his final professional game, Duguay played two games in the Eastern Professional Hockey League (EPHL), one game each with the Brooklyn Aces and the Jersey Rockhoppers, to raise money for the Garden of Dreams Foundation, a nonprofit organization associated with Madison Square Garden. Duguay signed a waiver and played his game with the Brooklyn Aces without a helmet, which allowed his hair to flow free as it did when he played in the NHL. With 37 seconds left in regulation, he assisted on the game-tying goal, but the Aces lost 4–3 in overtime.

In 2009, Duguay competed in the first season of the Battle of the Blades skating competition on CBC Television, partnered with Barbara Underhill. The charity he skated for was World Vision Canada.

On December 31, 2011, Duguay participated in the 2012 Winter Classic Alumni game pitting legends of the Rangers against the legends of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Legacy The Sudbury Wolves have retired his jersey.

In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Duguay at no. 49 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons.

Personal life Duguay grew up in Carol Richard Park in the township of Valley East, also known as Vallée-Est, now part of Greater Sudbury. He played at the Centennial Arena in Hanmer.

In the NHL, Duguay was noted for his long curly hair which would blow behind him as he skated without a helmet. He and teammates Phil Esposito, Dave Maloney and Anders Hedberg appeared in a TV commercial for Sasson designer jeans. The couple divorced in 2016.

In 2022, Slate and other publications referred to him as the "reported beau" of former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. In February 2022, Duguay confirmed that the couple was indeed dating. In January 2022, Duguay was seen dining outdoors with Palin in a restaurant, Elio's, on Second Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Palin had then recently tested positive for COVID-19. A photographer was allegedly assaulted by Duguay after the photographer questioned the danger of being in the company of Palin after her positive diagnosis.

In February 2026, Duguay's family announced that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in 2024.

In March 2026, Duguay drew media attention for comments he made on social media criticizing the New York Rangers' Pride Night event. Following a loss by the team, he suggested the event contributed to the outcome, describing it as "bad mojo" and attributing responsibility to what he characterized as a "select few college brain washed up, woked kids pushing their agenda on others in the organization." The posts were subsequently deleted.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1973–74 Sudbury Wolves OHA 59 20 20 40 73 4 0 3 3 4 1974–75 Sudbury Wolves OMJHL 64 26 52 78 43 15 11 6 17 19 1975–76 Sudbury Wolves OMJHL 61 42 92 134 101 17 11 9 20 37 1976–77 Sudbury Wolves OMJHL 61 43 66 109 109 6 4 3 7 5 1977–78 New York Rangers NHL 71 20 20 40 43 3 1 1 2 2 1978–79 New York Rangers NHL 79 27 36 63 35 18 5 4 9 11 1979–80 New York Rangers NHL 73 28 22 50 37 9 5 2 7 11 1980–81 New York Rangers NHL 50 17 21 38 83 14 8 9 17 16 1981–82 New York Rangers NHL 72 40 36 76 82 10 5 1 6 31 1982–83 New York Rangers NHL 72 19 25 44 58 9 2 2 28 1983–84 Detroit Red Wings NHL 80 33 47 80 34 4 2 3 5 2 1984–85 Detroit Red Wings NHL 80 38 51 89 51 3 1 0 1 7 1985–86 Detroit Red Wings NHL 67 19 29 48 26 — — — — — 1985–86 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 13 6 7 13 6 — — — — — 1986–87 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 40 5 13 18 30 — — — — — 1986–87 New York Rangers NHL 34 9 12 21 9 6 2 0 2 4 1987–88 New York Rangers NHL 44 4 4 8 23 — — — — — 1987–88 Colorado Rangers IHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1987–88 Los Angeles Kings NHL 15 2 6 8 17 2 0 0 0 0 1988–89 Los Angeles Kings NHL 70 7 17 24 48 11 0 0 0 6 1989–90 Mannheimer ERC GER 22 11 7 18 38 3 0 1 1 20 1990–91 San Diego Gulls IHL 51 15 24 39 87 — — — — — 1991–92 San Diego Gulls IHL 60 18 18 36 32 4 0 1 1 0 1995–96 San Diego Gulls WCHL 12 8 9 17 10 7 0 2 2 2 1996–97 San Diego Gulls WCHL 2 1 1 2 0 — — — — — 1997–98 San Diego Gulls WCHL 3 0 3 3 2 — — — — — 1998–99 Jacksonville Lizard Kings ECHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2002–03 Jacksonville Barracudas ACHL 6 1 3 4 2 — — — — — 2008–09 Brooklyn Aces EPHL 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 2008–09 Jersey Rockhoppers EPHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —NHL totals 860 274 346 620 582 89 31 22 53 118

International