Photo credit: Bruce Bennett/Pool Photo via Imagn Images
Ron Duguay’s Stage 4 colon cancer has New York Rangers fans rallying as his family turns to a GoFundMe for a fight that’s getting expensive.
If you grew up on late 70s Broadway, you remember the hair, the swagger, and the way he attacked open ice.
Now it’s something else, and it’s heavy.
Duguay has been dealing with Stage 4 cancer that started in his colon, a battle he says has drained him in every way.
His daughters, Shay Thomas and Amber Stavros, set up the fundraiser because the costs keep stacking up between travel and treatment.
The big challenge is geography.
He’s living in Florida, but he’s flying to Orange County, California every two weeks for ongoing care.
The family says earlier treatment in Florida nearly cost him his life, which is why the plan shifted west.
That move helped stabilize things, but it also created a brutal routine of planes, appointments, and recovery days.
Ron Duguay and the New York Rangers connection still matters
Rangers fans are proud, but this kind of news cuts through the noise and makes the whole community feel small and personal.
Duguay was a 1977 first-round pick, 13th overall by New York, and he played the game with flair that fit the Garden.
In 1981-82, he led the Rangers with 40 goals, the kind of number that still pops when you say it out loud.
Across 12 NHL seasons, he finished with 274-346-620 in 864 games, a real career, not a trivia note.
This is why the GoFundMe is landing with so many people.
It’s not about charity optics, it’s about a former Ranger getting hammered by travel bills and medical reality.
If you’ve ever chanted for a comeback at MSG, this is another kind of comeback you want to see.
Previously on NY Hockey Insider
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A former Rangers forward announces he has been diagnosed with aggressive cancer
Should New York Rangers fans donate to help Ron Duguay right now?