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The London Knights are slapping back at suggestions that Easton Cowan’s point streak should have been stopped on Tuesday in Kitchener.
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GM Mark Hunter called it foolish for some in the media to cast doubt on the validity of the star forward’s assist on Landon Sim’s second-period goal to extend the incredible run to 61 games – which equals Mario Lemieux’s Canadian Hockey League record.
Cowan passed the puck in front of the Rangers net and it skipped past Jacob Julien and off Sim’s skate to Jared Woolley, whose shot was stopped by goaltender Jackson Parsons. Sim knocked in the rebound. Had Julien touched the puck, the Jets prospect would have been credited with the second assist instead of Cowan.
It was the Maple Leafs first-rounder’s only point in a 5-2 loss. He added an assist in North Bay on Thursday and the streak stood at 62 games heading into Friday’s tilt in Sudbury.
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“The puck never changed directions,” Mark Hunter said. “So if those guys – the (Rangers) radio guy – can actually see that puck hit Julien’s stick, I’d like him to show me because he’s out to left field.
“It’s embarrassing to bring that up.”
The league doesn’t review every single goal scored in a season. It empowers its official scorers, in this case Kitchener’s Joel Klassen, to have the last word at the arena.
“What’s awarded in the rink by the official scorer will stand unless we’re asked to look at the play again by the team affected (in this case the Knights),” OHL director of communications Josh Sweetland wrote in an email.
The Knights rewatched the video of the goal many times, then asked Julien if he got his stick on it.
“Julien said he never touched it so what do I say?” Mark Hunter said. “What I watched on tape, you couldn’t see it. So you (the Rangers media who put a spotlight on the situation) are basically calling out the off-ice officials – from Kitchener, not from London – and it’s embarrassing if you want to embarrass a young kid like that (Cowan) when the off-ice officials say one thing.
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