They may not be in his home state or even in his home country, but the American NHL team the LA Kings have gained a fan for life.
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After a social media plea to find a treasured hat that was given to three-year-old Braxton Peden by his late father Bryn, who they lost in a motorbike crash in March, the LA Kings offered a special gift of consolation.
Posting a picture of hats, jerseys, pucks, video games and other merchandise on their Facebook page, on behalf of the whole team, player Jeff Carter wrote “on its way to you in Australia Braxton!”
“We might not be able to get you your hat back, but we hope this helps,” he posted.
Braxton’s mum Katie Peden said she could not thank the team enough.
“Words can not express the importance that hat had to us, how special it was,” Mrs Peden posted on Facebook.
“Now all these items will be so special to us because they have their own story.”
Braxton’s hat was lost somewhere between Sydney and Launceston, after the family boarded a flight JQ749 to Tasmania.
“Normally I would let it go, but this hat has so much sentimental value to us, as it was given to our son by his father, (my husband) who tragically passed away in an accident a year ago,” Mrs Peden posted on Facebook.
“Hopefully if someone has picked this up, they can see the sentimental value it has to our family and will contact me to return it.”
Ms Peden said that Jetstar tried very hard to locate the hat on their behalf.
“The CCTV was reviewed by the Sydney Airport and they believe the hat was disposed of into the bin by the cleaners,” she said.
Mrs Peden thanked those that helped spread the message to try and find the hat from the “bottom of her heart”.