Conaty, who happens to run the team’s social media accounts, first picked up Fake Jake from the hotel in The Pas on Jan. 12 and immediately began posting photos of the beloved stuffed animal on the team’s Instagram.

“I tried to put myself in the feet of a seven-year-old kid who lost his stuffed animal. He's probably sad and terrified,” he says. “So, I thought it would be kind of cool if he could kind of watch what was happening to get the stuffie all the way back to Thompson.”

A little more than six hours after being picked up from the hotel, Fake Jake arrived in Winnipeg with Conaty and the Wolves, who initially weren’t sure why a stuffed animal had joined them.

“At first, they were a little bit confused and were like ‘What's the deal with this stuff animal?’ But once I explained to them the story, they felt and understood what Ben was going through.”

 The Wolves embraced Fake Jake, bringing him to all their games, which included one in the nearby community of Landmark, and practices over the course of three days.

“He was like an extra member of the team. He hung out in the change room the whole weekend and came to all the games,” says Conaty, who shared photos and stories of Fake Jake’s time with the Wolves on the team’s Instagram.

Fake Jake also accompanied the Wolves on their team outings, which included a trip to downtown Winnipeg, and a pre-game meal at a BBQ restaurant in Steinbach. He also managed to squeeze in a video call with the Scaddan family and Jake, the real family dog.

“Whenever the kids did something, like when they went to the mall, they would take him there. He really was a member of the team,” says Conaty. “He basically became our mascot for the weekend … and the team really got a kick out of it.”

After an adventurous weekend in Winnipeg, Fake Jake made the roughly eight-hour drive home to Thompson, where he was returned to Ben by the Wolves captain Joey Hall.

“It makes me super happy. It's a tough world out there and doing a little bit something extra to brighten up a person's day, it makes you feel good. It’s a feel-good story,” says Conaty.

The Scaddan family says they are grateful for not just receiving Fake Jake, but for everything, the Wolves did while they had him.

“For this to happen, it’s pretty neat. Obviously, we didn't mean to forget Fake Jake, but it just kind of turned out the best way possible,” says Marc.

“The guy [Conaty] who was behind the [Wolves Instagram] page and behind all the posts and everything, he was a stranger to us. It's really cool that he did that for us,” says Karin.

As for Ben, he says he’s keeping Fake Jake pretty close by these days.