How the Chicago Blackhawks' Gen Z core has 'let down the shield' on social media

Connor Bedard is the Blackhawks' main social media attraction, but his teammates have joined him in opening up to the public. Michael Mooney / Getty Images For his first few years in the NHL, Wyatt Kaiser had no interest in anything the Chicago Blackhawks' social media team did. He'd be nice about it, but he'd usually decline their invitation to participate in their videos. He just didn't see any reason to join in. He doesn't have a TikTok account. He has an Instagram account but isn't that active on the platform. He was content to keep himself largely out of that space. That changed this season, when Kaiser began thinking of social media differently. He realized that without changing his habits or even posting himself, he could open up and have a presence on the Blackhawks' social media accounts. He began to understand that it might not be a bad thing for Blackhawks fans to get a glimpse of the real Kaiser. "I've been trying to kind of engage a little bit more with it and help people get to know who I am," Kaiser said. "Just people looking at you as more than maybe just a hockey player. That's mostly what we do, to be honest, but there's still a personality and things we like to do outside of it, as well." The Blackhawks tapped into that willingness to engage from Kaiser, Frank Nazar, Connor Bedard, Oliver Moore and down the line. With a roster full of Gen Z players to work with, their social media team had a field day. Senior social media coordinator Leila Rajput and social media manager Gabby Hundman showed up to the Blackhawks dressing room after a practice with a specific topic in mind, posed a question and let the players take over. With questions as simple as whether players wish they were more athletic or the correct way to cut a sandwich, or something more unique, such as the biggest animal they could conquer in a fight, a lot of players were happy to answer and had fun with the questions. In return, video after video went viral. Their TikTok of players answering whether they had made their bed that morning has 1.7 million views. Kaiser was often in the mix. His fans started a Wyatt Kaiser Fan Club hashtag -- #WKFC -- that was adopted by the Blackhawks social media administrators. A TikTok of Kaiser playing finger golf has 1.4 million views. "There are some very fun questions that you mess around with and joke around," Kaiser said. "You let down the shield a little bit and just be yourself and enjoy it. I find it pretty funny sometimes." Kaiser had to push himself to get involved, while Nazar was all about it from the start. His relaxed and outgoing personality is a perfect fit for social media. "I definitely do have fun, and all of us have fun, making those videos," Nazar said. "That's what we kind of grew up on, is stuff like that. That's more of what we're used to. They're always a blast and fun to talk about with each other and have some inside jokes and all that stuff. So, it kind of gets us together to have a laugh and joke about things, really." The Blackhawks' popularity is part of the equation. Their 2.1 million followers on X is the most among NHL teams. They also have the most on TikTok, with nearly 807,000. They have 1.8 million followers on Instagram. They're at 2.5 million likes on Facebook. Though their video questions are simple, the Blackhawks are strategic about what they post. Sometimes, they throw things against the wall and see if they stick, and some videos just never take off. Generally, they focus more on casual and player-led moments, as they found fans engage more with those types of videos. They also saw engagement increase over time as fans got to know the players more. The players understand that. "I think that's a big part," Nazar said. "There's a reason why the Blackhawks have so many followers, so many fans. They want to see the personality of the players, and I think we do a good job of showing that. That's a big part of life nowadays, is seeing who players are. That's how you build a relationship with your fans and people who want to pay attention to you and root for you. Then it almost doesn't feel like, 'Oh, I'm watching these guys.' It's like, 'This is our team, this is Chicago,' right? It's not just like, 'Oh, there's Connor, there's Frank,' whatever. It's like, 'That's Frank, I know this about him, this about him.' It's cool. It builds connection that way." Moore, who also has an outgoing personality, has a similar view of social media. "I think it's a great opportunity with the world we live in and the world that we're kind of growing up in right now," Moore said. "I personally think I could even use my social platforms more just to kind of like spread the Blackhawks organization and everything it has to offer. I think that, especially with kind of the vibe we have around the group right now, it's something special. I think guys do a great job of kind of promoting it and sharing each other's successes on their platforms and just being creative with it. Every day, the social media platform people here come in and do like a TikTok or something funny, and it's kind of fun." Though the Blackhawks have created more videos that include the whole team, they know who fans most want to see: Bedard. Whether it's a multi-player or individual video, the Blackhawks often lead with Bedard or focus on him. The hashtag #ConnorBedard had about 43,000 posts on TikTok as of this week, and the Blackhawks include it on a majority of their videos. It's no surprise Bedard's videos are often the most-watched, too. Bedard embraced the Blackhawks' social media more this season, too. He was noticeably more comfortable in the spotlight, but it has helped that he has more young teammates participating alongside him. "It connects with our lives a bit," Bedard said. "For a lot of us, we're younger and have social media and watch and stuff, so I think it just makes it easier to showcase your personality for us. But we do a good job of the two. It's tough sometimes, you get asked questions, and I know for me sometimes, I have no clue what to say, and then you just look like a bot a little bit. It's nice when it's easy and fun, and our staff does a great job with that." Bedard, like a lot of the players, said he doesn't watch the videos once they're recorded. He did jokingly mention one player who might. "I don't, no," Bedard said with a laugh. "I don't know, maybe some guys do. I know Lardy (Nick Lardis) likes watching himself a lot, so maybe he does a little bit."