Stanley Cup glory has quickly faded into unanswered questions following the Hurricanes’ engraving of one of the most hallowed trophies in sports.
Nearly a month after Carolina won its first NHL title in 20 years, the team this week unveiled the engraving of names on the Stanley Cup, and with a particularly notable difference. Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon is listed first, as is custom, but his name is followed by those of his wife, Veruschka, and each of their five children.
It’s also not uncommon for some family members of team owners to be listed on the Stanley Cup—but typically when they also have a role in the organization, such as serving as alternate governor or working in the team’s hockey or business operations.
That was the case with the Panthers following their back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2025, listing on the Stanley Cup owner Vinnie Viola along with his wife, Teresa, and three children who are all alternate team governors.
But that’s not the situation in Carolina. Veruschka Dundon and the Dundon children do not have formal roles with the Hurricanes, and the children are mostly school-aged and as young as 7. The Dundon names take up the entire first two lines of the team’s Stanley Cup entry, with 90 total characters.
Because of the maximum number of 55 names that can be engraved on the Stanley Cup, the inclusion of all the Dundon children helped result in some others in the Hurricanes organization being omitted as it settled on a final list of 53 engraved names.
One who was left out was longtime equipment manager Bobby Gorman, with the franchise since its prior era as the Hartford Whalers and on the Stanley Cup honoring the team’s 2006 win. Another omitted name is defenseman Joel Nystrom, who played 38 regular-season games for Carolina. Also left out were the team’s three minority team owners.
The Hurricanes and NHL declined to comment on the Stanley Cup engraving.
“The Stanley Cup goes to the players first,” tweeted TSN legal analyst and Canadian radio host Eric Macramalla. “By allowing the names of the owner’s kids to be engraved on the Cup—and ahead of the players to boot—is a troubling step toward an owner-first culture. That’s not hockey.”
Rules of the Cup
There are various rules and oversight surrounding the Stanley Cup engraving. In addition to the 55-name maximum, a list of names must be submitted to the NHL for review. The league seeks to ensure players, coaches, and hockey operations staff meet various criteria, such as an appearance minimum of 41 games for players to guarantee a spot.
Engraved names of non-playing personnel, however, are much more at the discretion of club ownership—something of which Tom Dundon has taken particular advantage.
There have been prior, unrelated engraving issues regarding the Stanley Cup. The name of Basil Pocklington, father of former Oilers owner Peter Pocklington, is chiseled with X’s following his erroneous inclusion of names to Edmonton’s 1984 title. Brad Aldrich, a video coach for the 2010 Blackhawks, also has his name crossed over following allegations of his sexual assault of Chicago prospect Kyle Beach.
Not the Only Scrutiny
The engraved family names aren’t the only recent controversy to surround Tom Dundon. Also the new owner of the NBA’s Trail Blazers, Dundon is angering fans and political leaders in Portland with a series of cutbacks within that organization, and most recently, with division over funding renovations to that team’s Moda Center.
Dundon has been insistent that he should not be obligated to help fund improvements to the 31-year-old, publicly owned arena.
“It feels like we’re making a pretty big investment by staying here and paying these tax rates,” Dundon said at a recent Portland Metro Chamber event.
Amid those rising issues in Portland, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has stood firmly behind Dundon.
“Tom may not always be—because we’re hearing this out of a different market—the most conventional owner, but nobody can argue with his commitment to [hockey]. … He’s been great for us all the way,” Bettman said.
