Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan wore the brunt of the blame after Canada crashed out in the quarter-finals of the 2025 World Juniors.

Despite leading his country in scoring, he could not propel Canada away from an early exit from a tournament being held in its own backyard. He took some costly penalties and was unable to get the timely goals needed, which was unfortunately one of the reasons why the Canada failed to medal for a second straight tournament. Canada’s failures go well beyond his struggles and these two weeks should not define his career, but he will have to learn from the shortcomings and improve upon them.

Speaking with The London Free Press’ Ryan Pyette on Tuesday, Cowan felt that was he unable to build on the momentum gained in their opener against Finland

“It sucks losing. I felt like we had a good team and I loved everyone there. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get it done,” Cowan said. “Pre-tournament, I was good and in the first game against Finland. After that, I couldn’t find my game. I don’t know what was going on.”

“But I’m moving on and I’m a London Knight now. I would have loved to do better for this country and I tried my best. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the bounces and I couldn’t really find my game at the moments I needed to and that happens sometimes.”

Much like he did throughout the two-week tournament, Cowan once again took responsibility for his shortcomings. He spoke on how he deserved to be taunted by Cole Eiserman because he took ‘a bad penalty’ against the United States. He felt that he should have approached his shootout attempt against Latvia differently because he acknowledged his mistake of assuming goaltender Linards Feldbergs wouldn’t know his move. When Canada’s tournament ended at the hands of Czechia, it hit him hard because of how much love he had for his team and for letting his country down.

One thing Cowan won’t do is get consumed by the outside noise of fans sending him hateful messages on social media. He said he is ignoring the online vitriol and instead focus on improving himself.

As Cowan said himself, he is going to shift his focus back to the OHL’s Knights as he looks to help guide his team to another deep playoff run. Much like a year ago, he will no doubt be motivated for another shot at the Memorial Cup in what might be his final opportunity to hoist one of junior hockey’s most prestigious trophies. Especially after coming so close to achieving it and falling short at the final hurdle despite an MVP season.

While the sting of Canada’s failures will undoubtedly continue to linger for a long time, he has the support of the Leafs organization to help him cope with it.

“He’s got so much game, so much road ahead of him. It’s a stepping stone, and unfortunately, it wasn’t the result that you wanted,” Maple Leafs forward John Tavares said on Saturday regarding Cowan. “But, it can be a stepping stone in a different way, and that’s just going through adversity, and when things don’t go the way you want them to go, your opportunity to learn and find ways to get better and how you can handle yourself and be a better player and all those sorts of things through it. Like I said, we’re completely behind him and will stick with him.”

Cowan’s return to the Knights lineup is on Friday night when he and his team host the Windsor Spitfires.