A holiday disappointment turned into a holiday miracle on Thursday after Canucks captain Bo Horvat took to Twitter to personally assure two young fans that he will be giving them a replacement hockey stick after the one they received got lost when they flew home after watching the team play in Edmonton on Dec. 23.
Janelle Erwin and her sons, Linden and Marshall, had travelled to Edmonton from their home in Nanaimo to cheer on the Canucks, who defeated the Oilers 5-2.
Linden had made a sign, hoping to get a card signed by Horvat, his favourite player. It went much better than planned.
Horvat handed over his personalized hockey stick, with his name in small silver letters on the shaft, as well as the number 53 on the grip.
“The boys were absolutely over the moon receiving that stick,” said Erwin.
She said that Linden was reluctant to let go of the stick when they were flying home the next day, via Abbotsford. But hockey sticks don’t fit in an overhead bin on an aircraft and he had to check the stick into luggage. “Don’t worry, it’s just a short trip,” she assured him.
But when they landed in Abbotsford, the stick was nowhere to be found.
“We got the stock response from Flair Airlines, that they are looking for it, but I wasn’t feeling exceptionally optimistic at the prospect,” she said.
After waiting four days, she took to Twitter on Wednesday with a public appeal.
She did not have to wait long for a response. Later that day the Canucks organization assured her that they would replace the stick. On Thursday Bo Horvat took to Twitter to assure the two young fans that he would personally autograph the replacement stick — and asked them to keep cheering for the Canucks.
“That says a lot of the character of Horvat and the Canucks organization,” said Erwin.
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