Duguay’s Star Still Bright

Aces captain Rob Miller felt like he was a rookie all over again, as his former coach, teammate and former Rangers star Ron Duguay laced up his skates on Saturday on the other side of the Brooklyn locker room.

23 years old and a first-year pro with the Jacksonville Barracudas the last time the two shared the same sheet of ice in 2003, Miller was probably too young to remember Duguay’s heyday with the Rangers and Detroit Red Wings, when he was an enthusiastic and dangerous center with an excellent shot and great hockey instincts.

However, despite his ability on the ice, Duguay will always be remembered for captivating the women wherever he played, with his trademark Jon Bon Jovi-esque long hair, earing and sasson jeans.

Oo- La-La.

This time around, Duguay, despite over 27-years since his last 40-goal season, still maintained his devilish good looks, but at 51, he acknowledged his game isn’t what it used to be.

“This is not a comeback,” said Duguay with a laugh. “The idea was that I’d come out of retirement for a game or two when I was over 50 for the Garden of Dreams charity. Would I do it again? I don’t know. I’m learning now, that you have to be in great shape in order to play this game today. I don’t train that hard anymore; I just train hard enough to be healthy and tonight was definitely an eye-opener. I’ll be sleeping with ice-packs tonight.”

Nevertheless, his former teammate and pal, doesn’t see too much of a difference in his game since the last time they skated together.

“When we played together, it was only six games, but he worked really hard,” said Miller. “He was in good shape then and he’s in good shape now. He’s still pretty much the same guy.”

Duguay sees things quite differently though.

“It’s funny how things worked out,” he said. “Because of that, this was really familiar to me. I told him before the game if he’d like a Miller from Duguay. It didn’t work out that way.”

With 274 goals to his credit as a player, a pro championship under his belt as a coach and now a successful gig on MSG as an analyst, Duguay doesn’t have much left to prove in the sport.

In spite of that though, he was willing to put his body on the line for a few nights in order to become better at his newest endeavor.

“One reason why I wanted to do this was because I don’t want to lose touch with the game,” Duguay said. “If I’m going to analyze it, it helps that I’ve done it [recently].”

After 60 minutes of hockey, about 12 of which Duguay spent on the ice, taking key face-offs at both ends of the ice and playing on the powerplay, it was obvious he still knew what he was doing.

He even drew an assist on a C.J. Tozzo goal with 23 seconds left in the game, forcing it into overtime.

“At that point, I was barely standing up,” he said. “It was hard for me to almost celebrate. I did have a few opportunities tonight though.”

When it was all said and done, dozens of his still dedicated female fans, donned in leather that hasn’t touched their skin since the last time he played in the NHL, waited patiently outside the Aces locker room to catch one last glimpse of the former heart throb.

Inside, Duguay spoke with reporters and looked much less than the playboy he was 25 years ago, as his hair and undershirt were encompassed with sweat.

It was obvious his days of scoring on Billy Smith and adventuring at Studio 54 were long gone.

Nonetheless, for those 12 minutes he was on the ice in Brooklyn, his earing shined brightly and his hair was still rockin’.

The legend of Ron Duguay is still alive and well.

Oo-La-La.

Even if it isn’t quite as most of us remember it.

“He said he was a bit surprised by the pace of the game,” said Aces head coach Chris Firriolo. “But he held his own out there and played a smart game.”

Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr.

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