Mitch Marners' future replacement leads Knights into OHL final

 

Prospect Easton Cowan of the Toronto Maple Leafs has guided the London Knights to the Ontario Hockey League championship.

London defeated the Saginaw Spirit 4-2 on Sunday to win the OHL Western Conference title and the Wayne Gretzky Trophy. Cowan scored twice and added an assist.


London prevailed 4-2 in the best-of-seven series.

 Since the franchise's last back-to-back Wayne Gretzky Trophies in 2012 and 2013, the Knights are the first team to do so.

“We had a total team game going,” said Knights head coach Dale Hunter. “Our big guns came out and played really well and the young guys who came in and filled spots played really well too.”

The additional goals for the Knights came from Sam O'Reilly and Jackson Edward, and Michael Simpson recorded 33 saves to secure the victory.

Saginaw's Joey Willis and Jorian Donovan responded, and Nolan Lalonde made 22 of 35 saves in goal.


The OHL playoff run by Saginaw was ended, but the Spirit will host the Memorial Cup beginning on May 24.

On Sunday, neither team scored during a power play. With the man advantage, London went 0 for 1, and the Spirit finished 0 for 3.

Additionally on Sunday, the North Bay Battalion defeated the Oshawa Generals 8-1 to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference final. Owen Van Steensel scored two goals and two assists in the victory.

 Sandis Vilmanis scored and had two assists for North Bay. Dalyn Wakely, Brice Cooke, Liam Arnsby, Justin Ertel and Jacob Therrien rounded out the attack.

Ben Danford was the lone scorer for the Generals.

Oshawa hosts the Battalion on Monday in the deciding game of the series with the winner meeting London for the OHL title.