Powered By Cowan & Co., Toronto Marlies Win The Calder Cup
The Toronto Maple Leafs' prospect cupboard isn't as bare as everyone thought. Easton Cowan, Ben Danford and playoff MVP Artur Akhtyamov contributed to the Toronto Marlies' Calder Cup championship.
Video Transcript
Hi, everybody.
Well, with Mr. Brightside playing in the background, this Toronto is what a championship celebration looks like, and the Toronto Maple Leafs haven't done it since 1967, but their farm team, the Toronto Marlies, have won the Calder Cup in 2026, following up their 2018 win, and they did it in impressive style, finishing seventh in the Eastern Conference in the regular season, but catching fire during the playoffs, and there are a couple reasons why they caught fire during the playoffs.
One of them was Easton Cowan, the rookie who played 66 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs this year, and joined the Marlies for their playoff run.
He had 18 points, including three assists in the clinching game against the Chicago Wolves, a 4-3 victory in Game 5 for-- to give the Marlies the Calder Cup.
He was one of the big reasons.
Another big reason was the play of goalie Artur Akhtyamov, who is also-- was also up for a couple of games this year with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but played most of the-- has played most of the past two seasons with the Toronto Marlies and is a legitimate goalie prospect and may very well end up being the backup goalie for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Akhtyamov was spectacular, posting a .906 save percentage in the playoffs and winning the Jack Butterfield Trophy as the MVP of the AHL playoffs.
The Marlies had several other prospects that were very good.
Jacob Quillen was hurt for a while, but he played very well.
Ben Danford, the defenseman who came out of junior this year and joined the Marlies for the playoff run was quite solid.
you know, and then there are some tweeners like William Vilna, Ryan Tverberg, you know, guys like that who really contributed.
does it mean the Toronto Maple Leafs are gonna follow this up with a Stanley Cup parade in a few years?
No, it doesn't necessarily mean that.
It means that some of their players, very important players for their future, got exposed to a very high level of hockey at a very crucial time in the season, and they came out champions.
It means Easton Cowan is once again a champion after winning two OHL championships, a Memorial Cup last year, and now a Calder Cup.
Those are all good things.
Those are all good things for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and maybe, just maybe, their prospect cupboard isn't quite as bare as everyone thought because right now, those guys are celebrating, and they're celebrating a championship.
For the Hockey News, I'm Ken Campbell.
