Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner had his eyes glued to the TV whenever the London Knights were on during the Memorial Cup this spring.
The Knights were among four teams—the Rimouski Oceanic, Moncton Wildcats, and Medicine Hat Tigers—participating in the annual tournament, which crowns the top junior team in the Canadian Hockey League.
London made it to the final last year, only to fall to the Saginaw Spirit in a heartbreaking 4-3 game. This year, however, with several players returning, including Maple Leafs 2023 first-round (28th overall) pick Easton Cowan, the Knights defeated Medicine Hat 4-1 to win their third title.
“I was watching, of course. It was great. I was talking to Cowan throughout it and staying up to date with him about it, and talking to Dale and Mark (Hunter), texting a lot of the trainers that are still there,” Marner told reporters at Canada's Olympic orientation camp in Calgary, Alberta, on Wednesday.
“It was great to see them win it, obviously, with the heartbreak that happened the year before them, and for them to bounce back as they did and just stick with it and know they have a great team and do it, it was great to watch. I was happy for them. They deserved it.”
Cowan led all players in the Memorial Cup with seven points (three goals and four assists) in five games throughout the tournament. Marner and Cowan are the only two Knights players to be named Memorial Cup MVPs.
Since the Maple Leafs drafted Cowan, Marner has taken the young forward under his wing. Both players share a similar story, growing up as undersized wingers, only to hit the OHL and immediately mould into the players they want to be.
They were each also a part of Team Canada's World Junior clubs that didn't win a gold medal at the annual tournament. Cowan had one goal and two assists in five games before losing 4-3 in the quarterfinals to Czechia.
“I was talking to him a lot, really, throughout the year, just checking in on him, making sure he’s staying in the right mind or headspace,” added Marner on Wednesday.
“You know, sometimes you start questioning stuff after the World Juniors didn’t go the way everyone wanted to, and that happens sometimes. I told him our team did the same thing. We didn’t have a great World Juniors. It gets hard, there’s a lot of people that say a lot of stuff and judge you for a lot of stuff, and I said, just don’t worry about it, go to London, do your thing, and win a Memorial Cup.
“And he led the way the whole time there and got the job done there, and that was great.”
Although both players won’t be in the same organization anymore (Marner was involved in a sign-and-trade to the Vegas Golden Knights), there’s no doubt the two will remain in contact. Marner played a key role in assisting Cowan through the OHL, and as many know, London players love to reminisce on their junior hockey playing days.
"He meant a lot to me," Cowan said after the first day of the Maple Leafs Development Camp in July. "Opportunities open up for other players. But yeah, super happy for him."
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