Hurricanes assistant GM celebrates with Stanley Cup in New Jersey

CRANFORD, N.J. -- The Stanley Cup has been hoisted by hockey legends, paraded through championship cities and celebrated by generations of fans.

On Sunday, Tyler Dellow, assistant general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, made certain it became the world's most famous ice cream bowl.

Four oversized scoops of Strawberry, Grasshopper, S'moreo (Smores and Oreo combined) and Peanut Butter Cup, were piled into the bowl of the Cup at Vanilla Bean Creamery before a pack of eager youngsters descended.

"I've got a great picture of my kids and some other kids eating out of it," Dellow said with a laugh. "It's like watching wolves eat a buffalo. They're just right in there.

"My kids love the ice cream, so they wanted to get some out of the Cup. So I said, 'All right, we'll head over there.'

It was messy, sweet, funny and perfect. And it captured exactly what Dellow wanted his day with the Stanley Cup to be about -- sharing it.

He did so with his wife, Amanda, their two children, and many other family members and friends by his side.

In addition to the creamery, the day included stops at the Cranford police station, Cranford firehouse, The Cranford Bookstore, and Cranford Tennis & Swim Club before concluding with a six-hour block party.

“Cranford’s been great for us,” Dellow said. “My son and daughter were both born here. It's really the only place my daughter has lived. Cranford’s a really special place."

The 46-year-old moved to New Jersey in 2019 and worked analytics for the New Jersey Devils. He said the family briefly returned home to British Columbia during the COVID-19 pandemic but eventually settled in Cranford.

That's why the Cup tour was built around the places that mattered to the family. The police and firefighters were included because they are part of the fabric of town. The bookstore is owned by a family friend and co-owners Kate Lydon and Lauren King, and the Dellow's are big readers. 

The ice cream shop was a must because his kids love it, and the swim club is where the family spends its summers.

"To be able to share it with those people and give them a chance to see it is really special for us,” Dellow said.

The bookstore stop especially moved him because local hockey kids got to see the Cup up close.

“I remember as a kid, I grew up in the far north and you don’t see the Stanley Cup very often,” Dellow said. “So to be able to share it with those kids was really special.”

At the Cranford Tennis & Swim Club, Dellow noticed three 10-year-old girls who play hockey, standing back and looking at the Cup.

“We sort of said, ‘Hey, you know what we got here?’” Dellow said. “And they said, ‘Yeah.’ And we’re like, ‘Come over, have a look.’ To show them the Stanley Cup, and just the reaction, the way that people react to it is unbelievable.”

Dellow’s own path to the Cup was anything but traditional. He founded mc79hockey.com, an influential analytics blog, earned a law degree from the University of Toronto and practiced civil litigation before moving into hockey. He worked for the Edmonton Oilers, wrote for The Athletic, spent five seasons with the Devils and now helps oversee data analysis, salary cap and contract work for the Hurricanes.

“It’s really incredible,” Dellow said. “People would ask me sometimes, or ask (Carolina GM) Eric Tulsky, ‘How do I do what you do?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know, man.’ We just did something we were interested in and opportunities kept coming. And then one day you look around and you got the flipping Stanley Cup with you.”

Said Jessica Dellow, Tyler's sister: "We're just very proud. It's been a really long interest of his. I remember Tyler being extremely interested in hockey from the age of 10 and so it's just amazing to see that they've actually accomplished this."

Tulsky attended the celebration and said Dellow has been vital to the Hurricanes.

“He’s been fantastic,” Tulsky said. “He plays a big role in our front office, leading the data team and the salary cap and contract group, and he’s really helped us sort of put the team together and keep everything on the rails.”

For Dellow's wife, the day was emotional because it showed how much her husband’s work and his different way of thinking about hockey, has meant.

“Neither Eric nor Tyler come to this as your traditional hockey executive,” she said. “They come to it through a different way because they think about the game differently.”

What she'll remember most about the day is the way Cranford reacted.

“It really brought people together,” Gibson said. “It’s really a community moment.”

And for one unforgettable day, that community moment came with four scoops of ice cream in the Stanley Cup and a pack of kids eating like wolves.