Cowan, London begins Memorial Cup revenge against Moncton on TSN
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Easton Cowan and the Ontario Hockey League champion London Knights battle Caleb Desnoyers and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League champion Moncton Wildcats as the Memorial Cup continues on Saturday from Rimouski, Que.
London represents the OHL after being crowned J. Ross Robertson Cup champions following a five-game win over the Oshawa Generals, while the Wildcats represent the QMJHL as their champions after they defeated the Rimouski Oceanic in six games.
The Knights return to the Memorial Cup after a heartbreaking defeat in last year's final that saw forward Josh Bloom score the game-winner with 22 seconds remaining to crown the Saginaw Spirit as 2024 Memorial Cup champions.
London has 13 players returning from that team, which helped them to boast a 55-11-2 record this season to top the OHL for the second straight year.
"We took it really badly last year and we all still feel the same way about it," Knights forward and Edmonton Oilers prospect Sam O'Reilly told TSN earlier this season. "So just having that mindset in the playoffs this year and the success we had in the regular season will help a lot in our future."
They cruised through the first three rounds of the playoffs, sweeping away the Owen Sound Attack, Erie Otters, and Kitchener Rangers before going up against the Generals in the OHL Championship Series for the second straight year.
After incurring their first loss of the postseason in Game 1, London won the next four games to be crowned champions.
San Jose Sharks prospect Kasper Halttunen was named the winner of the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award, given to the OHL's playoffs MVP, after recording 15 goals and 21 points in 17 games, including nine goals in the final with two hat tricks.
Meanwhile, Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan led the OHL in playoff scoring for a second straight season, registering 13 goals and 39 points in 17 games.
Cowan, who was the OHL's MVP during the 2023-24 campaign, is expected to play in the NHL or AHL next season and everything he's done this season has been in preparation for that.
“With young players when they’re good and they make a mistake, they just think ‘oh well, next shift,’” TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button said earlier this week. “When Cowan’s a game now, he’s factoring in on every shift somehow, some way. That’s what you want to see in regard to progress, the NHL needs players to be consistently dependable.”
Moncton had the best record during the QMJHL's regular season, going 53-9-2. They led the league in scoring with 294 goals while allowing 144 goals-against, which was the lowest total in the QMJHL.
Like London, the Wildcats swiftly dispatched the Quebec Remparts, Baie-Comeau Drakkar, and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the first three rounds, only losing one game in the process.
They quickly went up 3-0 on Rimouski in the QMJHL Championship Series, but the Oceanic were able to claw back two games before finally falling in Game 6.
“Moncton is a really well-balanced team that is good offensively and defensively,” said Button. “When you think about their season, there was no area in the game they weren’t good at.”
The Wildcats are led up front by top NHL prospect Caleb Desnoyers, who led the team in the regular season with 45 goals and 84 points. He went on to win the Guy LaFleur Trophy as the QMJHL Playoff MVP after adding nine goals and 30 points in 19 postseason games.
Desnoyers has won at every level he’s played, including gold medals at the 2023 Under-17 World Hockey Challenge, 2024 Under-18 World Championship, and 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He added a Gilles-Courteau Trophy to his trophy case when his club beat Rimouski and is a finalist for the MIchel-Biere Trophy as league MVP.
He's now looking to add a Memorial Cup to his ever-growing trophy case.
“He’s such a complete and competitive player,” said Button. “He’s smart on all areas on the ice, offensively and defensively. He’s wired to win and is a big-time competitive leader. He’s won everywhere and he’s trying to win another thing.”
The 18-year-old forward is eligible for the 2025 NHL Draft on June 27 and is listed at No. 6 on TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie's most recent rankings and at No. 7 on Button's May list.
Moncton has split their goaltending duties throughout the playoffs between star overage netminder Mathis Rousseau and Detroit Red Wings prospect Rudy Guimond.
Rousseau was acquired at the trade deadline from the Halifax Mooseheads and has an impressive junior hockey resume that saw him record the best save percentage in 2023-24 at .925 and the second best goals-against average at 2.27.
He also represented Canada at the 2024 World Juniors in Sweden in a fifth-place finish.
The 5-foot-11 netminder started four of the six games against Rimouski including the series clincher in Game 6.
Guimond is in his first season in the QMJHL after beginning the year with the Cedar Rapids Roughriders of the United States Hockey League.
The 6-foot-4 netminder went a perfect 16-0 in the regular season with a .940 save percentage and 1.73 goals-against average and won his first eight playoff starts before falling in Game 4 of the final.
“Guimond and Rousseau are both really good goaltenders,” said Button. “They’re playing three games off the bat and their goal is to be at least in the semifinals. [Head coach Gardiner MacDougall has an advantage] with two capable goaltenders.”
The Memorial Cup on TSN continues on Sunday when Cowan and the Knights taking on Mathieu Cataford and host Rimouski at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT on TSN1/5, TSN.ca, and the TSN App.