Dundon 'super thankful' to have Hurricanes reach Stanley Cup Final

RALEIGH, N.C. – Tom Dundon looked around Lenovo Center as the Carolina Hurricanes and their fans celebrated clinching their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final since 2006 on Friday and felt grateful that the moment had finally arrived. But not only for himself.

“You just get really happy for the people,” the Hurricanes owner told NHL.com on Saturday. “Everybody works so hard, and in the past, we've had really good teams and for whatever reason it didn't work. You kind of feel like you get what you deserve or you are supposed to get what you deserve and it was nice that we got what I think we deserved.”

The Hurricanes’ 6-1 victory in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens on Friday represented a breakthrough after eight seasons of building, and some disappointments. One important step remains, beginning with Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights at Lenovo Center on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, CBC, TVAS).

Dundon expects it to be exciting, but also nerve-racking.

“I’m always nervous,” he said. “I am nervous in the regular season, too. The games aren't my favorite part of this thing. I want to get it over with. I want to find out who won. I am thrilled that we get to experience it, but the game itself is very stressful.”

This is something Dundon only could have dreamed about, though, when he acquired a majority stake in the Hurricanes from Peter Karmanos on Jan. 11, 2018 (he became full owner June 30, 2021, before adding some minority partners earlier this season). At the time, their 2006 Stanley Cup championship had become a faded memory as they headed for their ninth consecutive playoff-less spring, and they had fewer than 5,000 season ticket holders.

Since then, the Hurricanes have become one of the NHL’s most consistent teams, qualifying for the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons, winning at least one series in each and reaching the Eastern Conference Final four times (2019, 2023, 2025, 2026). And they have a sellout streak that dates to February 2023.

“The whole point when I bought the team is you wanted something you could be proud of,” Dundon said. “You want to have a product you can be proud of, and you want to do things in a way that you know the brand is something special. When I bought the team, we had some work to do there.

“We were very fortunate that we hired (coach) Rod (Brimd’Amour) and had some good players there and then we kept adding to it.”

The Hurricanes hadn’t broken through and reached the Stanley Cup Final, though, until Friday.

“It's incredible,” Dundon said. “You want to get there every year, and it's taken a long time. So, super thankful that we finally did it.

In an exclusive interview with NHL.com, Dundon talked about the Hurricanes’ journey, Brind’Amour’s impact, the importance of the core and the culture they’ve helped establish, general manager Eric Tulsky and what comes next.

What stands about out about this team that maybe makes it different than the past ones? Is it some of the players you added last offseason, such as Nikolaj Ehlers and K'Andre Miller?

“Well, obviously, those two are great players, but we've had really good teams for a long time. We've had a great coach, a great coaching staff. So, I think just the main thing that stands out to me is the results. I mean, it's our fourth time (in the conference final) and we’ve only won once. We've had really good players and, obviously, Ehlers and Miller are huge additions and really (Logan) Stankoven and (Jackson) Blake weren't around, too (before last season), and (Taylor) Hall.

“But we've always had really good players and really good culture and a great coach. Just this time we got a better result.”

In the past you’ve said that there’s always a luck element in the playoffs, too. Did the luck finally go your way?

“It's not the popular way to answer it, but I think, not every year, but we probably had one or two times where the team was definitely good enough and maybe even should have won and didn't get the breaks. So, usually, I think it would be fair to say that whoever ultimately wins had both talent, and some good breaks. And you need both.”

You mentioned culture, which is also a word Taylor Hall used after Game 5 on Friday. Are you proud of the culture that has been established?

“Yeah, Rod and I had a pretty strong agreement on that. A big part of the reason I hired him is there is a way to treat people and a way to work and a way to go about wanting and needing to win every day, and it's cliche, but doing it the right way. So, not everyone fits into that. It doesn't mean they're bad people. It just means you’ve got to be cognizant of who fits, and then as more people do it right every day, it's easier for everybody else to do it. So, we're in a really good spot not just now, but it's been this way pretty much since I got here.

“You want the players to love being part of it. They’ve got to love each other, and they’ve got to know the coach loves them, and the organization cares about them, and then they can do what they do best.”

Brind’Amour talked Friday about the five players who have been here through all eight seasons – Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinook, Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Jaccob Slavin. How happy are you for them?

“There’s a reason those five are still here, right? They're super important to me. They're super important to the organization. And, yeah, it would be awesome, and Rod it would be awesome for him (to win the Cup).”

You promoted Eric Tulsky to be your general manager two years ago (after Don Waddell departed to become GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets). What have you thought of the job he’s done in bringing in players who fit here?

“He's done great. First of all, Eric has had almost as much to do with (the Hurricanes’ success) since I got there. He's been a big part of how we think about building the team. And Rod is involved, so we try to take into account the talent and the character. I think a large part of the reason that people fit, though, is because when you come here, there is one way to do it, and I say it's the right way. And I think people like that. When everybody's doing that, you are more likely to fit in because you are at your best and everybody else is at their best. So, I think that's kind of what we’ve got.”

Do you think you've kind of maybe started a trend with Eric because more teams seem to be looking for GMs with similar backgrounds to him in analytics?

“I don't know. Eric is a really smart guy, but, if you've talked to him, he's (also) easy to talk to. There aren't a lot of people that are of that high intellect that also have common sense and judgment. So, he’s able to communicate but he's also able to not be passionate about his opinions that aren't based on facts. There are a lot of people who make their decisions with more emotion. We all have emotion in our decision making. It's just can you separate it to come to the right outcome, and he's really good at that.”

I’m sure you would’ve loved to reach the Cup Final back in 2019, but is there more of an appreciation of this now after the emotional connection you’ve built over the past eight seasons?

“No, I don't think so. No.”

You would have enjoyed it just as much back then?

“Well, just every time we lose, I am devastated. It's the first time we've made it this far, so I don't know that I can differentiate because I don't know what that would have felt like. I know what it felt like not making it, and I can't imagine feeling any worse than the way it's felt.”

Have you allowed yourself to think about what winning four more games would mean?

“I try not to. Obviously, a lot of it is just the logistics of planning for the travel and getting everybody taken care of. Past that, I haven't really thought about it because we've done our part. It's now the players and the coaches that they do their thing, and we'll find out.”