Cowan shakes off injury scare as Canada prepares for Finland

Team Canada practised at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday as they prepare to open the World Junior tournament against Finland on Boxing Day. 

Easton Cowan fell awkwardly to the ice during the first drill of Canada's final practice ahead of the World Juniors. The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect remained down for a bit before talking to the team's medical staff.  

The 19-year-old from Mount Brydges, Ont. remained on the ice and eventually rejoined practice despite not looking entirely comfortable. He completed the entire workout and laughed off the injury scare afterwards. 

"Just toe picked," the London Knights winger said. "Gotta learn how to skate, I guess."

What went through his mind initially? 

"Just try to stay positive," he said. "Obviously you don't want that happening, but skated off. I feel great and ready to go tomorrow."

There was certainly concern at first as teammates continued to check in on the top-line talent. 

"It's tough to see him slide down, but he'll be fine," said centre Jett Luchanko, who started the season in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers. "There's nothing much there. He'll definitely be ready to go."

"I saw him spin out there," said captain Brayden Yager, who is a Winnipeg Jets prospect. "I glanced over and it looked like he was in a little discomfort, but he's fine."

That's good news for Team Canada, because Cowan led the way with four goals in the three pre-tournament games. The line of Cowan with Cal Ritchie and Bradly Nadeau got on the board in each exhibition outing. 

"It's pretty incredible," Yager said. "It looks like they've been playing together for years now. The way that they always find each other, it's a testament to their hockey IQ. Ritch is an unbelievable player. Cow is unreal too. Nads is awesome. He's such a hard worker and makes that line complete.  It looks like they're having a lot fun out there playing offence."

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A sell-out crowd of more than 18,000 is expected for the Boxing Day opener against Finland at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. 

"I can't wait to hear that crowd tomorrow night," said Cowan. "I think all the boys are excited to hear our goal song so hopefully we can get that going quick."

The players submitted a short list of options to the team's staff, who will make the final choice. 

"We don't even know," Cowan said. "It's a surprise, so whoever scores the first one will, I guess, invent the new goal song."

At one point during Monday's final pre-tournament game fans started singing 'Hey Baby' by DJ Otzi, which was the goal song in 2018. The fans are expected to be even more boisterous on Thursday. 

"I think it will be unreal," said Yager. "It will probably be one of the most electric games most of us have ever played in. We're excited to play in front of the fans and hopefully kick it off with a good start."

The Finns are excited as well. 

"They have the home advantage so they have the pressure that they need to play a good game," said Barrie Colts winger Emil Hemming, who is a Dallas Stars prospect. "It's always a lot better to be the underdog ... You dream of these games as a kid so it's going to be a lot of fun." 

Canada is always among the favourites at this event and the expectations are even higher on home ice. The four returning players are also looking for a measure of redemption after last year's disappointing fifth-place finish in Sweden.

"Bring your A game," advised head coach Dave Cameron. "A lot of these guys have played in big games, under-17, under-18, now this is a different level, but they kind of know what to expect. So, breathe. We're not asking anybody to put this team on their shoulders and carry it and everything's on them, so trust your teammates. Play the team game, and let's get at it."

Finland is hoping their team game will trump Canada's wealth of talent. 

"They have more skill than us," Hemming readily admitted. "We know that our team play is a lot better than Canada's."

Cameron channeled his inner Mike Tyson when asked about Canada's confidence. 

"We know it's going to be a tough tournament," he said. "We should be confident, but we won't really know how confident we are until we get a punch in the mouth. Like Mike Tyson says, right, about everybody having a plan. I'm confident. This team has put the work in. We got lots of depth. We're confident."

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During Canada's practice, winger Kasper Halttunen directed some barbs at his Knights teammate Cowan from the tunnel that leads to the Finnish dressing room. 

"He was doing some funny things and chirping me a bit," Cowan said. "He knows I don't like Bauer helmets. They hurt my head a lot so he was chirping me about that. He was telling me it looks good, but I don't know if it really does. He knows I'm picky. It was pretty funny."

The pair are good friends off the ice. 

"I know everything that he's got," Halttunen said with a grin. "I'm really excited to play against him."

"He's got that good shot," said Cowan. "I'll be playing him hard, I know that for sure. 

Cowan is preparing for the trash talk to continue.

"I'll be doing my research tonight," he vowed. "I'll be texting some of the buddies back home in London to get some insight on him, a bit more than I have."

"You can't be friends when the puck drops tomorrow," Halttunen said. "So you try and get under his skin a little bit."

There are three other Knights playing in the Boxing Day game with Oliver Bonk and Sam Dickinson manning the blue line for Canada and Jesse Nurmi slotting on left wing with Finland.

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Carter George doesn't need a scouting report on Halttunen's shot. 

"It's really hard," the Owen Sound Attack goalie said. "He's really deceptive with it. He can hide it real well. He's got a phenomenal one-timer. He's definitely pulled it off on me a few times in the OHL."

Halttunen scored a goal on George in a game on Nov. 22 this season. The San Jose Sharks prospect scored three goals for Finland at last year's World Juniors.

After picking up the win in Monday's pre-tournament game, George is set to make his World Juniors debut in net on Boxing Day. It's a day he always had circled on the calendar as a fan. 

"It was my favourite day of the year," the 18-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ont. said. "Playing with all my presents and getting to watch Canada at night, it was awesome. Definitely, as a kid, that was the day I would look forward to the most."

George is confident that he'll be ready for the pressure-packed start. At the urging of his parents, he started working with goalie mindset consultant Pete Fry last season. 

How do his parents deal with the stress of watching their son? 

"From what I hear, they'll get nervous a little bit here and there," George said. "But I don't know. I don't really pay attention to them up there, but usually my sister says it's not a fun game to watch with them."

George earned this start thanks in part to a stand-out performance at the 2024 under-18 World Championship and 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He backstopped Canada to gold at both events.  

"He's a great guy," said Yager. "Always having fun, always smiling, and just brings the energy up in the room. Obviously on the ice he's a guy we can really trust back there."

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There was no special teams work at all in Monday's 3-2 win over Czechia in the pre-tournament finale.

"Not too often I would say I wish there were more penalties in a game," said Cameron, "but it would've been nice to get some reps. We didn't get it so you adjust."

After a 1/1 start in the first pre-tournament game against Switzerland, Canada went 0/3 on the power play in Saturday's pre-tournament game against Sweden. They are planning some personnel changes for Thursday. Notably, Bonk is taking over as the quarterback on the top unit. 

"Shooter's mentality," Cameron explained succinctly when asked what Bonk brings to the role. 

With the Knights, Bonk actually plays the bumper spot. 

"Definitely weird seeing him up there," Cowan said. "He can play wherever. He's super smart, so he'll be good there ... His shot will help a lot. It's a nice little sifter that will be easy to tip in front."

At practice, Nadeau moved to the bumper, which bumped Ritchie to the flank. Cowan remained on the other flank and Tanner Howe remained in front of the net. 

Assistant coach Chris Lazary encouraged the players to talk more and let each other know where the open spots are. 

"I feel like if we just communicate a bit more it will go good tomorrow," Cowan said.

Erie Otters defenceman Matthew Schaefer moved to the top of the second unit, which bumped Tanner Molendyk off the power play. 

Porter Martone slotted in as the net-front presence on the second unit replacing Luchanko. 

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Yager heard from some big names in the hockey world, including  Pittsburgh penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, after being named Canada's captain. 

"Sid reached out, which was really cool," said Yager, who was a first round pick of the Penguins in 2023 before being traded to Winnipeg this summer. 

Plenty of current Jets reached out to Yager. 

"[Josh] Morrissey, [Mark] Scheifele, [Adam] Lowry the captain there, and the coaching staff, GM and just a lot of cool people," the Saskatoon native said. "It makes you feel pretty good when they're paying attention."

Of course, the first people to find out were mom and dad.

"They were pretty proud and dad gave a fist pump and was pretty excited," Yager recalled.

Yager is one of the returnees on Team Canada, but downplayed the redemption angle.

"We're going to have a short memory," he said. "It's a new group. New year. We got a really special group here. Great people, and we got the team to do something really special." 

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Team Canada winger Cole Beaudoin will be playing in his own backyard. He grew up 10 minutes away from Canadian Tire Centre. 

"In my hometown, it's even more sweet," the Barrie Colts centre said. 

Beaudoin has vivid memories of going to Ottawa Senators games as a kid with his brother, especially during the 2017 playoff run. 

"[Jean-Gabriel] Pageau scored an OT winner [in Game 2 against the New York Rangers] and there were some fans that, like, picked us up," Beaudoin recalled with a big smile. "It was going crazy."

Beaudoin's style of play should earn him plenty of fans beyond the 25 family members and friends he expects to attend the Boxing Day opener. The 6-foot-2, 210 pounder earned the nickname "Beast" growing up thanks to his physical style. 

"That doesn't surprise me," Luchanko said with a smile. "He'll battle anywhere for you. You can always count on him." 

"When hitting started to happen that's kind of what people started calling me," he said. "I was kind of going around just hitting guys and it just started coming up that people would call me 'The Beast.' It was kind of just part of my game. Big frame and I like kind of like getting in the corners and getting to the net. That's kind of the way I play. I like that kind of style."

Hockey Canada likes it as well, which allowed the Utah Hockey Club first rounder (24th overall) to become one of four forwards taken in the 2024 NHL draft to crack the World Junior roster. 

Beaudoin skated on a line with Luchanko and Ethan Gauthier at Sunday's practice. 

"He's definitely the strongest guy on the team, for sure," said Luchanko. "Great guy to have with you instead of against you." 

Beaudoin's role model is Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar, who he met once after a game in Ottawa.  

"It was an unbelievable moment," Beaudoin said. "Any time the Kings played in Ottawa, I'd go watch them. It was my mission to go see him. We were waiting for him down in the lobby area. Waiting and waiting for him to come out."

Just when it looked like they missed him, Kopitar emerged. 

"That was a crazy moment I had there with getting to meet my favourite player. I was freaking out. Obviously, I was still young. I was like 12 or something. So just meeting him, talking to him and him saying 'Hi' was super special." 

Now Beaudoin gets his chance to create special moments on the ice here. Monday's pre-tournament game gave him a taste of what to expect. 

"It was unbelievable," Beaudoin said. "Being out there in warm-ups and just seeing all the fans, everyone supporting us, and then going out for game time and seeing that arena packed for a pre tournament game, it was crazy."

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Lines at Wednesday's practice: 

Nadeau - Ritchie - Cowan
McKenna - Catton - Pinelli
Howe - Yager - Martone
Beaudoin - Luchanko - Gauthier
Extras: Rehkopf, Cataford 

Molendyk - Gibson
Schaefer - Bonk 
Dickinson - Mynio 
Akey - Price 

George 
Ivankovic 
Bjarnason 

Power play units at Sunday's practice: 

QB: Bonk 
Flanks: Cowan, Ritchie 
Bumper: Nadeau 
Net front: Howe

QB: Schaefer 
Flanks: McKenna, Yager
Bumper: Catton
Net front: Martone