Sarah Palin, 57, and retired NHL player Ron Duguay, 64, are a couple! After weeks of speculation, the retired hockey player confirmed the news to a reporter at The Daily Beast via text. “Are you dating Sarah Palin?” the reporter questioned, with Ron texting back: “Hi. Yes.” The exchange came after they were seen linking arms on the steps of the Manhattan federal courthouse during her defamation trial. Earlier in the day, he said to reporters, “we’re friends. I’m here to support her,” before confirming the romance.
On Jan. 29, the two made waves after they were spotted having dinner together at a Manhattan, NY restaurant in video obtained by Page Six. After the former governor of Alaska made headlines for visiting the dining establishment despite testing positive for COVID-19, insiders pointed out that the legendary Canadian athlete was one of the people with her. Find out more about Sarah Palin’s new boyfriend Ron below.
Ron was a star player for the New York Rangers.
He was drafted in 1977 and played for the team in the NHL for six seasons. During his time playing for New York, he made lasting impressions, like setting the team record for the fastest goal at the start of a game at 9 seconds in 1980. Although he suffered injuries early in his career, Ron led the Rangers in scoring 40 goals during the 1981-82 season.
Ron eventually went on to play for other NHL teams, including the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins before going back to the Rangers in 1987. He finished his NHL career with the Los Angeles Kings and later joined minor league teams. He also became a coach.
Sarah and Ron both recently went through divorces.
Sarah made headlines in 2019 when her then-husband Todd Palin filed for divorce after 31 years of marriage. The former couple share five children together.
Ron was married to Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Kim Alexis from 1993 until 2016. Before that, he was married to model Robin Bobo and they welcomed two daughters.
He became an analyst for the MSG Network.
Ron worked on the television coverage of the New York Rangers from 2007 until 2018. He also appeared regularly on MSG’s Hockey Night Live!
He was known for his long hair on the ice.
During his time playing in the NHL, Ron had long curly hair that would blow behind him when he skated without a helmet. It became his signature look for a while until he cut it shorter in the future.
Ron dated Farrah Fawcett & claims she got him traded from the New York Rangers.
The relationship between him and the Charlie’s Angels actress was brief and took place in the 1980s and he touched upon how he thought the exposure of their romance affected his career, on the New York Post‘s podcast.
“Herb Brooks, the coach, he had this talk with me about ‘staying out of Page Six, being in the sports page,’ and sure enough I was in Page Six once again,” he said on Up in the Blue Seats in 2020. “It had something to do with me being seen with Farrah … Two months after that, I got traded.”