Reuters/James Guillory
January 12th, 2018. On this day the sale of the Hurricanes to new owner Tom Dundon was made official and almost nothing about that organization has been the same since.
He is known as a brash character, almost in a similar mold to that of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.Cuban is a known friend of Dundon, but him trying to emulate Cuban's hands-on approach may not work so well in the NHL.Let's look at what transpired since he took over:March 7th, 2018In a move that shocks the hockey world, it is announced that the Carolina Hurricanes will demote Ron Francis out of their General Manager position. This is a move that rubbed some in the hockey community the wrong way as Dundon immediately wanted to show he would be a hands-on owner with this team.
Later on in the month, It was also found out that the team was in a contract negotiation with then-head coach Bill Peters which was said to have been stalling out which leads us to our next stop on the timeline.
Reuters/Eric HartlineApril 20th, 2018Bill Peters was regarded as a good hockey coach before he even came to Carolina but a few seasons in, things still weren't working out the way they wanted them to in Carolina. The team still had not made the playoffs under him but there were many reasons other than just their head coach.They let a damn good coach go on the open market and it was no surprise to see the interest around the league for him.April 30th, 2018In a move that surprised nobody, just 54 days after being demoted from his general manager position, Ron Francis is let go entirely from the Carolina Hurricanes organization. It is still unknown to this point when or if Ron Francis will surface again somewhere in the NHL.Make no mistake about it, in a recent media appearance Tom Dundon was quoted as saying that: "I don't want anyone to feel comfortable" (via WRALSportsFan)He plans to make massive changes to not only the arena but the fan experience for a franchise that has not had a sniff of the playoff since 2009 and could really use a local injection of fan energy. He certainly has succeeded so far in making sure nobody feels comfortable with his brash moves.It was also recently announced that Rick Dudley will join the front office of the Hurricanes. This will reunite him with an old friend, Don Wadell. These two worked together in Atlanta but it was to an ugly end last time as they were both let go when the franchise relocated in 2011 to Winnipeg.
Whether you agree with him or not, Dundon now holds the keys to this operation and it will be fascinating to see what becomes of the Hurricanes now.Will we have a Thrashers 2.0 on our hands or will this actually work out?Only time will tell.
Do you think Tom Dundon will make a success of the Hurricanes? Let us know in the comments section below.