Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon is facing backlash for engraving the names of his wife and children on the Stanley Cup as hockey fans blasted the decision as “disrespectful and shameful.”
Dundon’s name, along with his wife, Verushka, and their five children – Caden, Dax, Drew, Blake and Tagan – take up the first two lines of the newly engraved section of the famed Cup underneath the banner “Carolina Hurricanes 2025-2026.”
“Forever etched in history,” the Hurricanes posted on X, alongside a photo of the trophy.
Stanley Cup champions are allocated space for a maximum of 55 names to be engraved on the coveted trophy — with Dundon’s family taking the first seven spots, totalling 90 characters.
CEO Brian Fork and General Manager Eric Tulsky followed the Dundons before head coach Rod Brind’Amour and his staff completed the next six rows.
The players, led by Conn Smythe winner and team captain Jordan Staal, completed the final 24 names.
Players who appeared in 41 regular-season games, or half the campaign, or dressed in uniform for a finals game are guaranteed a spot on The Cup with the team.
Joel Nystrom, who made 38 regular-season appearances with Carolina while spending the remainder of the season with the AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves, did not have his name engraved along with several off-ice staff members.
Equipment Manager Bobby Gorman, who has been with the franchise since they were the Hartford Whalers and was included on The Cup in 2006, was not listed among the names this year.
Brind’Amour, Staal and forward William Carrier are the only ones whose names were etched onto The Cup in previous years.
While a majority of fans and players celebrated the historic etchings, some took issue with Dundon’s familiar positioning.
“Tom Dundon putting his whole family on the Cup instead of players & staff who actually did things to win the Stanley Cup is one the most selfish & gross things I’ve ever seen. It’s so disrespectful and shameful,” one critic wrote on X.
“Dumb Tom Dundon wasted so much space on the Stanley Cup by adding his useless children to it. Children who contributed nothing to the success of that team. What a self serving prick. Shameful,” another said.
“Absolute trashy behavior,” a third wrote.
Dundon, whose net worth is $2.3 billion, according to Forbes, purchased a majority stake of the team for $420 million before buying out the rest of the minority shareholders for full ownership of the organization in 2021.
In March, Dundon sold 12.5% of the Hurricanes stake to a group of investors at a $2.66 billion valuation.
Dundon appeared to replicate Vincent Viola, owner of the Florida Panthers, who had his relatives’ names — Teresa, John, Michael and Travis — etched into The Cup after the team won it back-to-back in 2024 and 2025.
The four relatives all serve as alternate governors on the Panthers’ executive board.
In 1984, then-Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington had the name of his father, Basil Pocklington, added to The Cup when the team won in 1984, later claiming it was a clerical error.
Hockey Hall of Fame officials, the owners of The Cup, found the secret placement and had the elder Pocklington’s name crossed out.
Former Chicago Blackhawks video coordinator Brad Aldrich, whose name was added after the team won the Stanley Cup Finals in 2010, had his name covered by Xs after being accused of sexually assaulting former player Kyle Beach during the playoff run.
With Post wires
