Poor Joel Nystrom.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite playing in 38 games this season for the Stanley Cup-champion Hurricanes, Nystrom\u2019s name wasn\u2019t engraved on the Cup, even though owner Tom Dundon included the names of his five children<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dundon is facing backlash<\/a> for the decision, with hockey fans calling the move \u201cdisrespectful and shameful.\u201d<\/p>\n The Hurricanes 2025-26 Stanley Cup trophy. \u201cThe fact that @Canes owner put 7 family names on the Stanley Cup ahead of any players and in one case of a player who played 38 regular season games, is a disgraceful action in NHL history,\u201d one X user wrote<\/a>. \u201cWhat an embarrassment of a team. You can be champions clearly without class.\u201d<\/p>\n Dundon, his wife and kids\u2019 names take up the first two lines of the Cup, before the Hurricanes front office and coaching staff complete the next six rows.\u00a0<\/p>\n The players completed the last 24 names \u2013 players who appeared in at least 41 regular season games or that dressed for a Finals game are guaranteed a spot on the Cup, per NHL rules<\/a>.<\/p>\n Joel Nystrom during a 2026 game against the Islanders. Getty Images<\/p>\n That didn\u2019t apply to Nystrom, who played in just under half the Hurricanes\u2019 games and spent the rest of the season with their AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves.<\/p>\n That he came so close and didn\u2019t make the list while family members did has raised some eyebrows.\u00a0<\/p>\n Carolina could have made an exception like it seemingly did for Nicolas Deslauriers<\/a>, who appeared in seven games for the franchise after being acquired midseason and one playoff game in the first round.<\/p>\n Nystrom wasn\u2019t the only notable person excluded, with Bobby Gorman, the Hurricanes\u2019 equipment manager who\u2019s been with the team since 1993 and got a spot on their Cup in 2006, also missing out.<\/p>\n Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon is seen during a 2019 interview. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n The Hurricanes won their second Stanley Cup in franchise history on June 14 after beating the Golden Knights in six games.\u00a0<\/p>\n This is the latest drama involving Dundon, who also bought the NBA\u2019s Portland Trail Blazers in March and has been panned for his cost-cutting moves<\/a> with the franchise.<\/p>\n Fans have been piling on him on oscial media.<\/p>\n
\n@Canes\/X X-@Canes<\/p>\n