Ron Duguay, a Rangers favorite whose game matched his presence, dies at 69

Ron Duguay, the former Rangers forward whose speed, flowing hair and personality made him an enduring New York favorite, died Thursday at 69. The Rangers and NHL announced his death. Associated Press reporter Stephen Whyno reported that Duguay's family had informed the club.

The Rangers remembered both the image and the player: the hair moving behind him as he skated, but also the ability and determination that made people care about the man wearing it. The club offered condolences to his family, friends and loved ones. NHL.com reported that he had been diagnosed with cancer. His hockey life deserves to be remembered beyond the illness.

The player behind the familiar image

Selected 13th overall by New York in 1977, Duguay went directly from junior hockey in Sudbury to the NHL. Two seasons later, he was part of the Rangers team that reached the 1979 Stanley Cup Final. New York eliminated the Islanders in the semifinals before losing the championship series to Montreal.

His 1981-82 Rangers season supplies a useful answer to anyone who remembers only the look: 40 goals and 76 points in 72 games. He could finish. His largest single-season point total came later in Detroit, where the NHL's career table records 38 goals and 51 assists for 89 points in 1984-85.

Across 12 NHL seasons with the Rangers, Red Wings, Penguins and Kings, that table records 274 goals and 346 assists for 620 points in 864 regular-season games. His playoff record stands separately: 31 goals and 22 assists for 53 points in 89 games. They are two parts of the career, not a combined regular-season total.

A connection that outlasted his playing days

Duguay returned to the Rangers during his playing career and later became a familiar MSG Network analyst. NHL.com credits him with 12 years in that role. For fans who arrived after his final NHL season, television offered another route to knowing him. His connection to the team did not depend on seeing him play in person.

The familiar photograph of a player can sometimes crowd out the player himself. Duguay's record brings the two back together: a memorable presence, a 40-goal season in New York and a place on a team that played for the Stanley Cup. Thursday's tributes belong to a person and his family first. For Rangers fans, they also mark the loss of someone who remained part of the conversation long after he left the ice.