Poor Joel Nystrom.
Even after playing 38 games for the Stanley Cup-winning Hurricanes this season, Nystrom’s name won’t be on the cup. Instead, team owner Tom Dundon opted to engrave the names of his five children.
This decision didn’t sit well with a lot of fans, with many calling it “disrespectful and shameful.”
One user on social media remarked, “The fact that the @Canes owner chose to honor seven family names before any players, especially when one player actively contributed in 38 regular season games, is a disgrace in NHL history.” It got quite intense, with some fans feeling embarrassed for the team.
Dundon’s name, along with his family’s, will fill the first two rows of the cup, while the front office and coaching staff will have their names on the subsequent six rows.
The players get to finalize the last 24 names on the Cup. There’s a rule in the NHL that guarantees a spot for players who participate in at least 41 regular season games or the finals. Unfortunately for Nystrom, who spent much of the season with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, he didn’t meet that threshold.
This omission, particularly when his family is included, raised quite a few eyebrows.
Interestingly, there seemed to be room for exceptions—like for Nicolas Deslauriers, who played in just seven games after being acquired mid-season and still made it onto the Cup after appearing in one playoff game.
Nystrom isn’t the only notable exclusion; Hurricanes equipment manager Bobby Gorman was also left off. Gorman has been with the team since 1993 and was part of the 2006 Cup victory.
On June 14, the Hurricanes claimed victory over the Golden Knights, securing the Stanley Cup for just the second time in the franchise’s history.
In addition to all this drama, Dundon, who has faced criticism for his cost-cutting moves, also acquired the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers earlier this year.
The social media sphere hasn’t been kind to him either. “Stupid Tom Dundon wasted space on the Stanley Cup by including kids who contributed nothing,” another user commented. The frustration from fans seems to be building.
