The Carolina Hurricanes are worthy NHL champs, plowing through the playoffs with a 16-3 record. It's a victory of commitment to an approach, as head coach Rod Brind'Amour's system finally paid ultimate dividends after seven years of postseason exits. It's a victory for bloggers everywhere, thanks to the employment of GM Eric Tulsky and analyst Tyler Dellow(!). But most important, it's a victory for family. The Dundon family, specifically. No other families.
Notoriously cheap owner Tom Dundon is listed first on the Stanley Cup engraving every champion gets. It's his team, he can do what he wants, and at least the NHL is the last holdout in not handing its championship trophy to the owner first. Executives have had their names on the Cup since the Bruins did it in 1929. So it's fine that Tom Dundon is on there now. But whoever's job it was to do the engraving was certainly not done at one Dundon:
The first two rows are all Dundons. Tom's wife, Veruschka Dundon, gets second billing. Then come their five kids: Caden Dundon, Dax Dundon, Drew Dundon, Blake Dundon, and of course, who could forget Tagan Dundon? That's more Dundons than an episode of Law & Order.
There are rules about who gets to be on the Cup. Ownership proposes the engraving, but it must be approved by the Hockey Hall of Fame and the NHL. There is a maximum of 55 names per team, and players must play 45 games to automatically qualify; teams can petition to include players with fewer. Nicolas Deslauriers, who came over in a late-season trade and played seven games, made the cut. Joel Nystrom, who played 38 games for the Canes while splitting his time in the AHL, did not. Possibly Nystrom's space was needed for Tagan Dundon.
That there's any approval process at all is thanks to Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington, who after winning the title in 1984 had his father Basil's name engraved on the Cup, despite Basil having nothing to do with the team. NHL executives forced the HHOF to institute a damnatio memoriae on Basil Pocklington, covering up his name with a bunch of Xs.
On the dynasty-era Red Wings Cups, there are three rows of Ilitches, but all of Mike Ilitch's seven kids did co-own and work for the organization in one capacity or other. The various Dundon spawn do not work for the Hurricanes, possibly because, among other reasons, one of them is 7 years old.
Panthers owner Vincent Viola put his wife and three sons on the Cup in 2024 and 2025, but at least all four are listed as alternate governors of the team. The Dundon clan are not co-owners or governors, again, probably because they are children.
I am somewhat sympathetic here. I would try to find a way to engrave my cat's name on the Cup if my team won it. But it doesn't mean the rest of the world has to sit here and pretend they give a shit Tom Dundon's happy domestic life. If I were one of the players or support staff who didn't make the cut, I'd be lining up that 7-year-old for a Kronwalling.
Regardless, what's done is Dundon, and now that the engraving is up to date, everyone on it gets to spend the traditional day with the Cup. I hope it survives the summer without any serious damage; I've heard those children can party pretty hard. I wonder if Tagan will fill it with abble juice.
