The social media manager at Team Town Sports appears to have gotten a bit more than they bargained for when they signed an endorsement deal with Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan.
And while attention is what you’re looking for any time you get an athlete partnering with your brand, the independent sporting goods store probably didn’t expect to become the dumping ground it ended up being after Canada’s quarterfinal loss to Czechia at the 2025 World Juniors.
On December 24, Team Town Sports posted a collab post with Cowan congratulating him on making the World Juniors squad, which is the most recent picture on the Leafs prospect’s social media feed.
And after a disappointing tournament for Canada and Cowan in particular, the post has now been flooded with hundreds of comments, with over 600 on the post at press time.
While some comments are telling Cowan to keep his head above water, it’s just as easy to find several directed at the 19-year-old calling him out for his performance at this year’s tournament.
A series of screenshots of the comment section posted to X shows a sample of the comments directed at Cowan.
Easton Cowan’s latest IG post comments pic.twitter.com/B5aae1sych
— BigFlamesGuy (@BigFlamesGuy) January 3, 2025
For comparison, the four posts that Team Town Sports published since their picture with Cowan have a combined 10 comments total, none of which contain much substance.
Cowan finished the tournament with one goal and two assists in five games, a year after putting up one goal and one assist in five games. Two moments stuck out in particular for his detractors: a failed shootout attempt in the team’s first loss to Czechia in the round-robin, and a choice on a 2-on-0 in last night’s loss to shoot the puck rather than pass it to linemate Oliver Bonk, who appeared to be open next to the opponent’s net.
If there’s any saving grace for Cowan, it’s that a disappointing exit for a Leafs prospect in the quarters at the World Juniors isn’t necessarily indicative of how their career will pan out. None of Matthew Knies, William Nylander, Auston Matthews, or Mitch Marner won a gold medal at their respective World Junior tournaments, despite all going into the event with high expectations.
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