Hurricanes owner facing harsh criticism for Stanley Cup decision

They are entirely made up of the Dundon family,  including Thomas, his wife Veruschka Dundon, and the children Caden, Dax, Drew, Blake, and Tagan. The youngest of the children is seven years old. None of them have any association to the team outside of being related to the rich people that own them. 

This has typically been a gray area for the league, and it usually frowns upon it. 

In the 1980s, former Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington attempted to get his father, Basil Pocklington, onto the Cup even though he had nothing to do with the team. The name was later X'd out.

Detroit Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch managed to get several of his family members on the cup, but they all had roles within the organization and front office. The same is true for Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola with several his family members. They were, again, all members of the organization 

The Dundon children are not. At least not in any official capacity.

This has led to a day-long discussion about whether or not it's right, with long-time NHL insider Chris Johnston voicing the strongest objection. 

The NHL gives each championship team a maximum of 55 spaces for names, with most of them choosing to put on 52 names. 

Players that have appeared in at least 41 regular-season games, or at least one Stanley Cup Final game, are automatically included.

As are the head coach and members of the assistant coaching staff.

Key members of the front office, including the general manager and their assistants, are also typically included. 

Teams can also make the decision to add players that did not meet the games played requirement due to injuries or any other reason that prevented them from playing. 

One of the biggest omissions for the Hurricanes is defenseman Joel Nystrom.

Nystrom appeared in 38 regular-season games and helped fill in admirably while the team's top defenseman, Jaccob Slavin, missed a significant portion of the regular season due to injury. He may not have appeared in the playoffs, but he was a key member of the team whose name is not included. And that's wildly unfortunate given the names that had nothing to do with the win getting added. 

Dundon is no stranger to criticism as an owner, even with his success in Carolina.

He recently purchased the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers and has made several controversial decisions centered cutting costs. That included not giving out free T-shirts to fans for home playoff games, to not bringing the team's two-way players on the road for playoff games (an unprecedented move in the NBA). He's also, for now, refusing to invest any money into a new arena project in Portland and is demanding it be funded entirely through public money. 

Nobody said having money meant making popular decisions or doing things that make people like you. It just gives you the freedom to make decisions that seem like a good idea to you. It buys you a lot.