NEW YORK/CHICAGO — The National Hockey League (NHL) today debuted the newest ad in its “The Next Golden Era is Now” campaign to commemorate the start of the 2024-25 season. The spot, titled “Gen Z” and created by Highdive, takes a tongue-in-cheek approach and features popular Gen Z NHL stars acknowledging and making light of the misconceptions about their generation. Created in collaboration with Highdive, the commercial launches today on the NHL’s digital and social platforms before it premieres during ESPN and Sportsnet’s Opening Night tripleheader featuring St. Louis Blues-Seattle Kraken at 4:30 p.m. ET, Boston Bruins-Florida Panthers at 7 p.m. ET, and Chicago Blackhawks-Utah Hockey Club at 10 p.m. ET. (Photos and credits are available here.)

“People can say what they want about Gen Z, but there’s no denying the skill, speed and creativity of today’s young stars in the NHL,” said Casey Hall, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Branding for the National Hockey League. “Contrary to stereotypes, they are drawing the admiration and respect of fans and fellow players of every generation. And they’re doing it in their own way – with personality, style and fun. “

The new :30 commercial opens with a newscaster asking “Is Gen Z the laziest generation?”. One by one, NHL young stars Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks, Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils, Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Jack Eichel of the Vegas Golden Knights, each playfully mock their generational labels. Instead of denying or getting upset about the stereotypes, they let their “game” speak for itself. The ad ends with millennial Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby shaking his head and saying, “Kids these days.”

Highdive Co-founder/Co-CCO Chad Broude added, “We had a lot of fun getting these players into the spot and letting them joke about people’s assumptions of Gen Z. Together with the NHL, we developed a great concept highlighting the attributes of these young stars through the culturally relevant topic of Gen Z in the workplace.”

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