Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jordan Staal is on there.
So are Jackson Blake, Logan Stankoven, Fredik Andersen, Brandon Bussi and the other players who had key roles in the Carolina Panthers’ Stanley Cup championship this year.
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Their coach, Rod Brind’Amour, also is on there, as is general manager Eric Tulsky.
A total of 53 names have been engraved onto the Stanley Cup to represent the 2026 champs. At the very top of the list is team owner Tom Dundon … and his wife and their five children, whose ages are believed to range from single digits to mid-20s.
The Dundon family comprises the entire first two rows of names on the iconic chalice, even though Papa Dundon is the only one who holds a position within the organization.
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According to the NHL’s website, up to 55 names per championship teams can be engraved on the Cup. Players who appeared in at least 41 regular-season games or one Stanley Cup Final game automatically make the cut, and teams can petition the commissioner for permission to include other players. The team determines which names from the management staff are engraved on the trophy, but all names must be approved by the Hockey Hall of Fame and NHL.
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So it would seem that all the names submitted by the Hurricanes would have required approval before being etched into immortality. The Hockey Hall of Fame told the Associated Press it is not directly involved with the engraving.
The NHL did not immediately respond on Friday to a request for comment from The Times.
Owners have included family members’ names on the trophy before. In 1984, Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington had the name of his father, Basil Pocklington, engraved even though Basil held no position with the team. Apparently the NHL was initially unaware of this addition, and the elder Pocklington’s name was later covered with a row of X’s.
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Penny Vinik, then-wife of Tampa Bay Lightning majority owner Jeffrey Vinik, was included with the 2021 championship listing. She didn’t hold a traditional position within the organization but was largely considered a co-owner and was active in team operations.
The wife and three children of Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola were included on the Cup following the team’s titles in 2024 and 2025. All of them, however, are designated as alternative governors on the team.
While the entire Dundon clan made the cut, some notable Hurricanes omissions include defenseman Joel Nystrom (who played 38 games with Carolina this season); development coach Jesper Fast (who played four of his 11 NHL seasons with the Hurricanes); nutritionist Kristin Pirigyi; and three investors (Brett Jefferson, Marc Grandisson and Bobby Farnham) who joined the team’s ownership group in March.
Dundon’s move was widely criticized — and ridiculed — after the Hurricanes on Thursday posted a picture of the engravings on social media. The team declined to comment for this story.
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NHL broadcaster Chris Johnston, who also covers hockey for The Athletic, called the matter “embarrassing.”
“Let me be crystal clear here: If you didn’t give every last piece of your being to earn this thing, you don’t deserve to have your name engraved,” Johnston wrote on X. “If you’re in primary school in Dallas when a team wins in Raleigh … forget it.”
Hockey broadcaster Jeff Marek had an interesting idea.
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“Compromise – if the Carolina Hurricanes owner wants to do this how about just engraving ‘The Dundon Family’ instead of each name?” Marek wrote on X.
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Former NHL player and current analyst Anthony Stewart posted a doctored image of the engraving that featured his name in place of two of the Dundons as well as in several other spots down the list.
“I see zero issues with the names on the Stanley Cup,” he wrote.
Defector deputy editor Barry Petchesky may have had the funniest observation of all. He wrote of the first two lines of names on the Cup: “That’s more Dundons than an episode of Law & Order.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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