{"id":144426,"date":"2026-02-25T02:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T02:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/144426\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T02:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T02:02:13","slug":"family-of-former-new-york-rangers-player-ron-duguay-say-he-has-cancer-launch-gofundme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/144426\/","title":{"rendered":"Family of former New York Rangers player Ron Duguay say he has cancer, launch GoFundMe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hockey legend Ron Duguay has dropped his gloves for one more fight.<\/p>\n<p>The ex-New York Rangers heartthrob, who\u2019s dating former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, is battling cancer, his family has announced. <\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ve <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/support-ron-duguays-fight-against-cancer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">turned to GoFundMe <\/a>to help cover the soaring costs of his treatment.<\/p>\n<p>Duguay\u2019s daughters have launched an online fundraiser seeking $26,000 for the Canadian hockey pro, who played six seasons in New York in the 1970s and 1980s and later became an analyst for MSG Network.<\/p>\n<p>Ron Duguay played  played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League from 1977 through 1989, including six seasons with the NY Rangers. FilmMagic<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause of his cancer, he hasn\u2019t been able to work the way he normally would,\u201d his daughter Shay writes on the fundraising page. \u201cEarlier in his treatment journey, the care he received in Florida nearly cost him his life. That led us to bring him to Orange County, where my sister and I live, so he could receive treatment here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His daughter Shay explains that the move now requires Duguay to fly from Florida to Orange County every two weeks for ongoing care.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe cost of constant travel, along with medical care, holistic therapies, supplements, and alternative healing approaches he has committed to, has become extremely overwhelming financially,\u201d she writes.<\/p>\n<p>He has been battling cancer, which started in his colon, for a year.<\/p>\n<p>His family has started a Go Fund Me to help with costs.<\/p>\n<p>According to the fundraiser, the family is also \u201cexploring additional treatment options outside of the United States in hopes of giving him the best possible chance,\u201d noting that the therapies are \u201cvery expensive and add another layer of financial strain during an already difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Duguay tells us he has been battling cancer for a year. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, which started in the colon. He tells us that he has since lost his appendix and gallbladder.<\/p>\n<p>Duguay is dating former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. <\/p>\n<p>Duguay tells us that it\u2019s his daughters who pushed for the fundraiser, noting when we called that he didn\u2019t want to advertise, but told them to do what they felt was best. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI find it extremely hard asking for funds for all these costs I\u2019m going through,\u201d he tells us. \u201cNormally I\u2019m helping others.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Duguay says cancer \u201csucks the life out of you,\u201d and that it\u2019s \u201cso freaking costly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Duguay tells Page Six he has lost his appendix and gallbladder. <\/p>\n<p>While Duguay, who has been through chemo, tells us he is continuing with Western Medicine, he is also exploring alternative options. <\/p>\n<p>He tells us that his numbers recently spiked again and at this point he feels he needs to \u201cdig deep\u201d and explore all options that he can. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am going to do all the alternative along with the Western medicine,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat I am learning I will be able to share with others.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI need to get better so I can help others,\u201d he told us.<\/p>\n<p>An emotional video posted to Instagram shows Duguay in various hospital beds, holding medical scans and using a walker. The montage also features touching moments with family members \u2014 and his girlfriend, Palin.<\/p>\n<p>He is hoping to travel abroad for alternative treatment. <\/p>\n<p> \u201cHe is doing everything he possibly can,\u201d reads the caption, which goes on to list a number of approaches, some which are not backed by the scientific community. \u201cFrom Living Antioxidant Water, blood ozone therapy, IV vitamin drips, ivermectin, methylene blue, and countless holistic approaches, while also continuing City of Hope\u2019s chemo protocol and undergoing major surgery on both his liver and colon. He is all in. Every single day. And through it all, his faith has never wavered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It has been known that Duguay was dealing with some form of illness for some time.<\/p>\n<p>When Palin was in New York City in April 2025 for her defamation retrial against The New York Times over a 2017 editorial, the couple attended a Rangers game, though Duguay skipped opening statements.<\/p>\n<p>Duguay helped lead the Rangers to a Stanley Cup win in 1979. WireImage<\/p>\n<p>He has said the Rangers were his favorite team to play for. In 2009, he and Rod Gilbert taught Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb some hockey moves on the Today Show. Angela Cranford\/MSG Photos<\/p>\n<p>When asked where he was, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/04\/15\/us-news\/sarah-palin-hangs-with-ron-duguay-in-town-for-times-libel-trial\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Palin told reporters <\/a>at the time, \u201cOh, he\u2019s battling a health issue right now, but otherwise very well.\u201d (She lost the case.)<\/p>\n<p>Duguay previously co-hosted the New York Post Sports podcast \u201cUp In The Blue Seats.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>In addition to the Rangers, he played for the Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Los Angeles Kings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hockey legend Ron Duguay has dropped his gloves for one more fight. The ex-New York Rangers heartthrob, who\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[13483,191,9,11,10,541,60593,60594,6475],"class_list":["post-144426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-cancer","tag-celebrity-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-rangers","tag-ron-duguay","tag-sarah-palin","tag-sports-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}