FREDERICTON -- A Fredericton company has scored big with an Instagram endorsement from a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

When the owners of Educated Beards phones started to lite up, they knew that Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Zach Bogosian received their package.

They recently sent their set of beard grooming products to the beaded former Stanley Cup champion, who is in his first year with the Maple Leafs.

Bogosian’s posted about the product to his 42,000 followers, which has given the small business a big boost.

“Our social media has blown up, says CEO Alicia Phillips. “We’ve had lots of calls. It’s very exciting and really wanted to show our support for the hockey team.”

Phillips, a holistic nutritionist, started the company with her partner Kevin LeBeouf in 2017, after LeBeouf left the military and could finally grow a beard.

“My army background, everyone is part of the team, there’s never just one person,” describes LeBeouf. So we thought it would be really important to include everyone.”

They sent Bogosian a large box of their beard oil and beard balm, with enough products for him to share with the whole Maple Leafs team.

“Hockey is one of those things that is providing a little bit of normalcy right now, so the fact that we could put a smile on their beautiful, bearded faces is exactly what we wanted to do,” says Phillips.

“We’re just excited, our goal is to be able to provide natural and organic skincare to everybody, so the fact that a professional athlete has posted about us, it really gives us credibility,” says Phillips. “They get hundreds and thousands of companies trying to get them to do this, and even offering to pay, so the fact that he just chose to post about the brand really means a lot to us.

Next up, the Fredericton entrepreneurs hope to get a shout out from the Montreal Canadiens or the Vancouver Canucks. Both teams should receive their Educated Beards products shortly.