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Nobody shouldve been surprised to see Tom Dundons name engraved on the Stanley Cup.
He owns the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes won the Cup in June.
Thats how the process tends to work.
Less expected, though, was the engraving of the names of Dundons wife, Veruschka, and their children: Caden, Dax, Drew, Blake and Tagan.
All seven Dundons were on the Hurricanes Cup stamp, revealed by the teams social media accounts on Wednesday night.
Forever etched in history pic.twitter.com/KpJaNsb5Fz Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) July 9, 2026 The decision to include six of Dundons family members among the 53 engraved names, rather than more actual members of the organization who contributed to the Cup victory, was met with bemusement, confusion and anger on social media.
Advertisement Asked on Thursday to explain the teams decision-making process, a spokesperson said, We wont be commenting as an organization.
Heres what you need to know about the engraving of the Stanley Cup, and why the Hurricanes choices marked a departure: How does the engraving process work? Each Stanley Cup-winning team is allowed space permitting a maximum of 55 names engraved on the Stanley Cup.
That total typically includes a combination of players, coaches, staffers and ownership/front-office members, with the team largely having discretion about which names to engrave.
There are 53 names on Carolinas 2026 engraving, and no team has had the full 55 since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings.
A story on the NHL website describes eligibility requirements, noting that a player is required to have appeared in at least 41 regular-season games with a team, or one Stanley Cup Final game, to be eligible to have his name engraved on the trophy.
In 1994, a stipulation was added to allow a team to petition the Commissioner for permission to have players names put on the Stanley Cup if extenuating circumstances prevented them from being available to play.
The management staff engraved on the trophy is determined by the team.
However, it must be approved by the Hockey Hall of Fame and NHL.
However, a spokesperson for the Hockey Hall of Fame, responding to an email question from The Athletic about the Hurricanes engraving on Thursday, wrote that Hockey Operations at the league (NHL) office in Toronto signs off on the names that go on the Stanley Cup.
HHOF is not involved in this process.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, as of late Thursday afternoon, had not responded to an email about the Hurricanes engraving.
Do owners family members often make the cut? Members of the primary owners immediate family getting their names on the Cup isnt new.
The Dundons, in that regard, are following in the recent footsteps of Vincent Viola, who owns the Florida Panthers.
Advertisement Four other members of Violas family wife Teresa and adult sons John, Michael and Travis are all designated as alternate governors, and the younger Violas hold other titles.
That fact perhaps acted as a form of cover for getting all five on the Panthers back-to-back Cup stamps in 2024 and 2025.
On the Detroit Red Wings engravings following their 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008 titles, nine members of the Ilitch family appear, but each was either a part owner or a team vice president.
However, Dundons five children, all college-aged or younger, dont hold positions with the Hurricanes.
Before this year, the youngest person to have their name on the Cup was Kerry Day, who was 11 when he was honored for his role as team mascot for the 1944-45 Maple Leafs, as reported by Sean McIndoe of The Athletic in 2024.
The age of Dundons youngest child is not publicly known.
The most similar comparison would seem to be Basil Pocklington, the father of former Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington, who had his name engraved on the Cup in 1984 despite not holding any job with the Oilers ..
before having it struck out by a series of Xs by the order of the NHL after it realized the situation.
(Peter Pocklington, for the record, blamed it all on a miscommunication with the engraver.) What is the recent standard for name selection? In all, 29 non-player names were included in Carolinas engraving, which is in line with other recent champions, including Floridas 28 in 2025.
Its also worth noting that the Hurricanes ownership group and front office are relatively small by NHL standards, which bought them some theoretical space.
Left off, though, was defenseman Joel Nystrom, whose 38 regular-season games fell three short of automatic inclusion.
Teams regularly petition for players below that threshold as Carolina seems to have done for winger Nicolas Deslauriers, who played in just 31 regular-season games, seven for the Hurricanes after they acquired him from the Philadelphia Flyers and one in the second round.
Advertisement Beyond players, coaches and ownership/front-office types, teams typically include staffers such as team doctors and trainers, equipment managers and media relations staffers.
The list, after approval, is sent with the Cup to Montreal-based engraver Louise St.
Jacques.
Is Dundon controversial in general? The Hurricanes success since Dundon bought the team in 2018 is tangible, and the teams players, coaching staff and front office clearly think highly of him.
However, his $4.25 billion purchase of the NBAs Portland Trail Blazers in March specifically his subsequent cost-cutting and wrangling with local government over funding arena renovations earned Dundon an extra degree of scrutiny.
A Dallas-based billionaire who made his initial fortune in subprime auto lending, Dundons focus as an NHL owner has been eliminating inefficiencies, often ruthlessly, and spending more heavily in areas where the return is quantifiable.
The fact of the matter is, he doesnt always do things in traditional ways, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told The Athletic as part of a profile during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
I think in some ways hes a bit of a disruptor, but hes extraordinarily creative and effective.
And the results in Carolina theyre both on and off the ice.