PYETTE: Easton Cowan’s 61-game point streak bests even Mario Lemieux

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Easton Cowan’s point streak won’t end up in the record books.

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That was made perfectly clear well before the London Knights star approached and passed Doug Gilmour’s 55-game Ontario Hockey League milestone in early December. The Maple Leafs first-rounder now stands tied with Mario Lemieux’s Canadian Hockey League mark of 61 straight games, but the caveat remains this feat has occurred over the course of two seasons – not just one.

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Some believe that makes the Cowan run illegitimate. Conversely, this could be considered even more impressive than what either Gilmour or Lemieux accomplished.

It’s one thing to get hot and stay hot. But look at all the interruptions he has faced along the way.

Cowan finished the 2023-24 regular season on a 36-game heater. Then, he led the Knights to a 16-2 playoff run and the OHL title, was named the league and playoff MVP, and fell one game short of a Memorial Cup championship.

After that, he went through an abbreviated summer before trying to crack Toronto’s lineup again. He missed the start of the OHL season due to Leafs camp, had another pause while dealing with some injury issues and kept producing while clearly playing at less than 100 per cent health.

This streak, which already blew past a calendar year in November and could reach 14 months this weekend in northern Ontario, survived two Canadian world junior camps and tournaments – one of those in Europe.

It has soldiered on after Cowan was made one of the main scapegoats on social media for Canada’s performance at the most recent event in Ottawa.

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“You don’t see that very often,” London GM Mark Hunter said. “You talk about really great players that have done this – Doug Gilmour and Mario Lemieux. When you get put in that category, it’s a special thing. His preparation is something all young men should watch and follow. He knows what he needs to do to start every game and he’s ready to play.

“He doesn’t have many games where he’s not ready to play. That’s a credit to him and his understanding of what needs to be done to get ready.”

KEEPING IT REAL: Cowan doesn’t always love to talk about the streak since this is a team game and winning is all that matters to him. But he obviously gets asked about it a lot and, lately, you can tell he really enjoys the challenge.

On the weekend, he mentioned he was happy it has continued.

Have there been some close calls along the way? Absolutely. There are always overtime magic and late-game heroics needed to keep a string this long from snapping.

Both visits to Kitchener so far were marred by terrible ice conditions at the old Aud. In the first one, Cowan escaped with a late empty-net goal and his lone assist Tuesday would have been negated if the official scorer ruled the bouncing puck had first hit Jacob Julien’s stick before getting to Jared Woolley and, ultimately, Landon Sim.

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It’s too difficult to tell on video, the second assist was awarded in-rink to Cowan and it isn’t going to be reconsidered – so the streak remains safe.

LESS IS MORE: There is no way Cowan would be able to keep this going without playing on one of the best teams in junior hockey.

There have been some games where he hasn’t looked sharp, but he is blessed to play with a lot of talent. No matter how coach Dale Hunter decides to shake up the forwards, Cowan always ends up with a highly regarded linemate.

And when you’re winning a lot, there isn’t a need to overplay anybody.

“The minutes are spread out pretty good now (on the team),” Mark Hunter said. “It’s not like he’s playing 25 minutes a night. He’s playing 18-20 so he understands he needs to take every shift and push. He does that because he likes to win first. He would say the streak comes second. It’s a credit to him and it’s hard to find players with that (level of) consistency.”

There have been times the Knights tried to set him up to keep the streak going. They’re invested in it, too.

“It’s a huge milestone for him,” Finnish forward Kasper Halttunen said. “He deserves every single one of those (points). He’s always trying to help the team and that’s something the younger guys on the team can look up to.”

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They better pay attention. They may never see anything like this again.

AROUND THE RINK: The Knights have 26 regular-season games left. So it’s conceivable Cowan can finish his junior career on an 87-game point streak if he plays every remaining game. He has 17 goals and 35 points in 25 games so far in the 2024-25 campaign . . . North Bay is rebuilding this season but the Battalion have knocked off Brampton and Barrie since the trade deadline. The Troops have only allowed five goals in their past three games . . . The Knights departed for North Bay Wednesday. They want to be well-prepared for the three-game northern swing. “It gets you sorted out and a nice meal for the players to be ready for the (first) game,” Mark Hunter said. “I just think you need to do that.” By the time they finish in Sault Ste. Marie Sunday, the Knights will have played five games in eight days – four of those on the road. “I understand Herb (OHL director of administration Herb Morell) has a tough job trying to fit everybody in,” Mark Hunter said. “It just seems to work out that at a certain time in everybody’s season, you have a tough schedule. This is our time.” . . . Blake Montgomery has a 13-game point streak currently. It’s the second longest in the OHL at the moment. Wonder who’s first?

rpyette@postmedia.com

KNIGHTSWATCH

Thursday: at North Bay, 7 p.m. Troops are 19th of 20 teams in goal scoring.

Friday: at Sudbury, 7 p.m. Knights pounded Wolves 8-1 last weekend.

Sunday: at Sault Ste. Marie, 2:07 p.m. Hounds have two shutouts in past three games (over Peterborough and Ottawa).

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