Canucks captain gives B.C. boy hockey stick, but stick gets lost on flight home

A B.C. boy is hoping to be reunited with a prized gift after he received a hockey stick from Canucks captain Bo Horvat, only to have the stick get lost in transit when he flew home.

The young hockey fan, Linden Erwin, travelled from his home in Nanaimo, B.C., to watch the Canucks play in Edmonton on Dec. 23.

Erwin brought a hockey card to the rink to try to catch the attention of his favourite player, Horvat.

Erwin just wanted the card signed, but the Canucks captain went above and beyond instead.

"No way! I got a Bo Horvat stick, this is the best trip ever," Erwin remembers thinking.

The Canucks won that game, with Horvat scoring two goals. But as Erwin's family boarded their flight to Abbotsford, B.C., the next day, disaster struck.

You see, the stick didn't exactly fit in the overhead compartment.

"Linden was pretty reluctant to let go of that stick and put it onto the plane but we assured him, 'Don't worry it's a short flight, it'll make it home,'" said Erwin's mom, Janelle.

But then, while the Erwins made it to Abbotsford, the stick did not.

"Really disappointed, extremely," Erwin told CTV News.

CANUCKS RESPOND

On Wednesday, Janelle took to Twitter to appeal for a solution.

"Lost luggage happens, but I think being able to track it down would be great," she said.

"And if not, hopefully [the airline] could help us out with the Canucks to replace something that was pretty remarkable to our kids," she said.

The Erwins didn't know it, but by the time they spoke with CTV News on Wednesday, the Canucks team had already responded, saying they'd be happy to get in touch with the family and work out a way to send them a new stick.

Flair Airlines also responded to CTV News saying they were looking for the missing stick.

"Flair Airlines' team has been made aware of the missing stick and is hard at work to track it down," said the company in a statement.

"We know how much an NHL stick means to our passenger. We are confident it will be found," Flair added. "When it does, we'll get it to him."

While the journey has been a whiplash of emotions, it seems like the missing stick, or at least one just like it, will be back in the young hockey fan's hands soon.