After the Carolina Hurricanes won their second Stanley Cup on June 14, their majority owner, Tom Dundon, has been in the news. An NHL analyst pointed out how he deserves more credit for bringing the glory to Carolina after a wait of 20 years.

Ex-player turned agent Drew Shore, who also analyzes the NHL, gave his take on the Hurricanes owner’s contribution to the Stanley Cup success on his official X account.

“I think someone who hasn’t gotten nearly enough credit for the #StanleyCup win was their owner, Tom Dundon,” Shore wrote in his X post on Wednesday.

He also alluded to how Rod Brind’Amour had “zero head coaching experience” before Dundon gave him the role at the Canes in May 2018. It is important to note that Brind’Amour was the assistant head coach for seven seasons before being promoted as head coach.

Brind’Amour replaced Bill Peters, who resigned and moved to the Calgary Flames in April 2018, after Dundon purchased the Hurricanes for $420 million earlier that year in January.

Shore pointed out that the current Carolina GM choice of Dundon, named Eric Tulsky, has a "PhD in chemistry" and a fair idea of hockey as a sport through blogging. It was in June 2024 when Tulsky was promoted to the general manager role after being the assistant manager for nearly three-and-a-half years.

Tulsky did the job in the interim for a few weeks after former GM Don Waddell resigned in May 2024.

“Kept the staff and core players together after being one of the league’s best regular season teams & falling short in 8 straight years, which included 4 ECF losses. Really cool to see everyone in Carolina get rewarded after being so close for so many years…" Shore concluded his post on X in appreciation of Dundon.

The NHL analyst said one reason for the Hurricanes' success under Dundon has been the stability of the coaching staff, led by Brind’Amour. Despite reaching the Eastern Conference Final four times and losing each time during eight playoff appearances, the team kept faith in him, and he remained head coach.

Also, some of the core players on this journey since 2018 include captain Jordan Staal, Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Jaccob Slavin, and Jordan Martinook.

How Did The Stanley Cup Final Pan Out Between Carolina Hurricanes And Vegas Golden Knights?

The first three games of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final produced some of the best hockey. In Game 1, a back-and-forth battle, the Vegas Golden Knights won 5-4 against the Carolina Hurricanes with a Tomas Hertl goal at 16:36 in the third period to go up 1-0 in the series.

Game 2 went into overtime with a late equalizer for 3-3 from Vegas captain Mark Stone at 18:39 in the third period. It happened after the Hurricanes came from 2-0 down to make it 3-2 in 5:20 minutes during the third period, just before Stone’s goal.

But ultimately, Seth Jarvis scored the winner for the Hurricanes at 3:56 in overtime to make it 5-4 and level the series 1-1.

It led to one of the best games in Stanley Cup Final history, Game 3, which needed double overtime for a result. After a goalless first period, the Golden Knights took a 4-0 lead in the second period, with Mitch Marner scoring the fastest hat trick in the Cup Final in just 6:10 minutes.

In the third period, the Canes mounted a sudden comeback with three goals in just 39 seconds before Andrei Svechnikov got the equalizer at 18:18 for 4-4. During the second period of overtime, Shea Theodore scored the winner for Vegas at 5:38 to make it 5-4 and give his team a 2-1 lead in the series.

After that, Carolina pulled away decisively from Vegas with 5-3, 4-2, and 3-0 wins in Games 4, 5, and 6, respectively, to have their captain Jordan Staal lift the Stanley Cup trophy.

Will the Carolina Hurricanes defend the Stanley Cup title next season? Give us your prediction in the comments.

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Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Ankita Yadav