from Luke DeCock of the News & Observer,

Let’s make this most important point first: Peter Karmanos should have and deserves the fervent and genuine appreciation of Carolina Hurricanes fans for bringing the team here and keeping it here. None of this, the good times and the bad, would have happened without him....

All that said, this is a glorious day. He finally has an agreement in place to sell the team, even if there are still more hurdles to clear, and he’ll still be a minority partner. And to someone who isn’t Quebecor. Pardon, Quebec.

Dallas businessman Thomas Dundon, who made his money in subprime auto loans, has pledged to keep the team here, although such promises are always fungible. Karmanos himself promised when he bought the Hartford Whalers in 1994 to keep the team in Connecticut for four years. He moved them here after three.

The indecision and uncertainty surrounding Karmanos’ increasingly tenuous personal finances held this franchise hostage for far too long. His absentee ownership – for almost 20 years, he promised to move himself or his business to Raleigh in some capacity and never did – kept the Hurricanes from making the inroads in the community they should have long ago. And the force of his personality and penchant for pile-driving his foot into his mouth always made for interesting times for those who had to work for him and deal with him on a daily basis.

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