Easton Cowan, Canada Eliminated at World Juniors, Leaving One Leafs Prospect in Medal Rounds

Team Canada's World Junior Championships came to an end last night on home soil after losing 4-3 to the Czechs after a very late goal sealed the deal.

The Canadians left a lot of offense and star talent off this year's roster, which brought about a lot of questions. However, they still possessed enough fire power to at least contend for a medal, including Toronto Maple Leafs' top prospect in Easton Cowan.

Unfortunately they were ousted in the Quarter-Finals for the second straight year and Cowan's world junior tenure came to a close with a lot of questions now being asked about his overall game play.

He received a lot of flack for his questionable shootout move against Latvia, the Americans targeted him during their 4-1 victory over Canada, and he made plenty of questionable plays including passing up on a one-timer early in yesterday's game.

It's certainly not fair to pin this all on Cowan as Canada's Tanner Howe was the only to have scored more than 1 goal and their offense went ice-cold after their opening win over Finland, but as one of the more seasoned players, they desperately needed more from him.

It continues a run of what has become a very difficult season for the youngster. He failed to make the Toronto Maple Leafs out of camp after many claimed he was almost a slam-dunk candidate, he's gotten off to a slow start in his final year with the London Knights - at least compared to his lofty standards he set last year - and of course the coup de grace being the early elimination at the WJC for the second straight year.

He will return back to the Knights and play a top-line role for a club looking for successive championships in the OHL as they currently pace the league with a 29-6-1-0 record. Cowan will also have his eyes set on the Memorial Cup after the Knights lost out in the finals last year, however all the backlash he has received - and will continue to receive - will be tough to overcome, especially as a 19-year-old.

Nevertheless, it's not all doom and gloom as the Maple Leafs still have one prospect remaining in the World Juniors in Miroslav Holinka. The Czech international has 1 goal and 2 assists across 5 games with a plus-2 rating, which matches Cowan's statistics at this year's tournament.

Holinka and the Czechs will now be facing off against the United States on Saturday as they look to book their ticket into the Gold Medal game.