{"id":546198,"date":"2026-04-07T20:52:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T20:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/546198\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T20:52:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T20:52:35","slug":"for-ilya-and-aliaksei-protas-playing-in-the-nhl-together-is-a-dream-come-true-if-you-had-told-me-that-in-childhood-i-would-just-hang-up-the-phone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/546198\/","title":{"rendered":"For Ilya and Aliaksei Protas, playing in the NHL together is a dream come true: \u2018If you had told me that in childhood, I would just hang up the phone\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

ARLINGTON, VA \u2014 When Ilya Protas first tried to tell his brother he\u2019d been called up<\/a> to the Washington Capitals, Aliaksei<\/a>\u00a0sent him to voicemail.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe called, a video, but I was with the daughter, so I couldn\u2019t respond,\u201d Aliaksei said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m like, \u2018I\u2019m going to call later.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Only after Ilya sent the news in the family group chat did Aliaksei pick up the phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe texted me, \u2018I got called up,\u2019 so I answered right away,\u201d Aliaksei said.<\/p>\n

Aliaksei, like Capitals management, had been paying close attention to Ilya\u2019s AHL season. With 62 points (28g, 34a) in 66 games, Ilya leads the Hershey Bears in scoring and ranks sixth in the league\u2014the only rookie in the top 10.<\/p>\n

The recall made sense: both head coach Spencer Carbery<\/a> and general manager Chris Patrick<\/a> have said they wanted to find Ilya an opportunity this year, and an 8-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday effectively ended the Capitals\u2019 playoff hopes, opening up an opportunity for Ilya to play in DC.<\/p>\n

But when the moment came, it still didn\u2019t feel real. Just getting to make his NHL debut was magical enough for Ilya, let alone doing so with his brother by his side.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you had told me that in childhood, I would just hang up the phone,\u201d Ilya said. \u201cLike, \u2018No, it\u2019s spam or something.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHard to believe it right now, to be honest,\u201d Aliaksei added. \u201cLooking to the side (at him on the ice), looking in the gym \u2014 camp is one thing, but right now, seeing him get a chance to have a debut tomorrow, maybe, it\u2019s an unbelievable feeling. Just trying to stay focused right now, but it\u2019s a surreal feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Protas brothers talk to the press after practice Tuesday<\/p>\n

Eight players on the Capitals\u2019 roster have a brother playing professional hockey, but the Protas\u2019 bond is closer than most. When their father was away from the family for work for a year, Aliaksei took on more responsibility for his younger brother, and Ilya has called him his \u201csecond mom.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI needed to help my mom, you know?\u201d Aliaksei said. \u201cI needed also to go skate and play hockey, plus school, kindergarten for Ilya. So (I) just needed to be that brother to help. And I think growing up, we had great relationships, moving forward, and hopefully it\u2019s going to become even better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ilya admits he didn\u2019t make the job easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was kind of tough little brother,\u201d he said. \u201cMy mom told me he always was helping her with me, because I wasn\u2019t good. I was running around and doing some crazy stuff\u2026he was really mature when I was younger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aliaksei has taken on a similar mentorship role in Ilya\u2019s hockey career, putting him through his paces<\/a> during their shared summer training.<\/p>\n

\u201c(I learned) consistency, how hardworking he is, and his work ethic,\u201d Ilya said. \u201cBecause obviously your offseason, (we\u2019re) always together. We\u2019re practicing together and you see how hard he works. And each and every day is consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n

That work paid off: Ilya has impressed in his rookie season with the Bears, already a star in the league and one of Hershey\u2019s top players at age 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to be honest: I for sure didn\u2019t expect that big of a jump,\u201d Aliaksei said. \u201cBut I knew he\u2019s a smart player. I knew he\u2019s a hard-working player. Plus, he\u2019s got the great coaching staff, in terms of developing the players, and the great teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I knew and I hoped he\u2019s going to have success, but for sure I didn\u2019t expect that much of his success. And I feel like it\u2019s just a start. He\u2019s got so much work ahead of him, and just got to keep working. But so far he\u2019s been great, and I\u2019m so proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ilya\u2019s best game of the season came on Saturday, when he tallied a staggering 6 points (1g, 5a) for the Bears against the Hartford Wolf Pack<\/a>, doing so the same night Aliaksei notched a goal and an assist over the Buffalo Sabres.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get two points, you feel (like) that\u2019s a good night \u2014 until you like take a look at the stats in other leagues,\u201d Aliaksei joked. \u201cYou see six points on the board, I mean, it\u2019s not fun to see that, when you think you had a good night.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Despite his coaching, Aliaksei didn\u2019t want to take credit for what his brother had done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t skate for him; I didn\u2019t do the gym for him, right?\u201d Aliaksei said. \u201cHe\u2019s done that himself. He\u2019s a hard-working guy. He absolutely deserves it. Did I help him? Yeah, I\u2019m trying my best. I\u2019m so happy for him. But he did it by himself. He earned that chance, and, hopefully he\u2019ll get it and make the best out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the season, they talked on a daily basis \u2014 mostly Ilya FaceTiming to see his two young nieces, but the topic drifted to hockey sometimes, too.<\/p>\n

Now, the brothers are practically attached at the hip in Washington. While Ilya stayed at the team hotel during training camp last fall, he\u2019s moved into Aliaksei\u2019s guest room ahead of his NHL debut.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s seen my younger daughter only once, so just spend time with them, spend time with the family,\u201d Aliaksei said. \u201c(My older daughter) Alice missed him so much. So it\u2019s just special to [have] him around, helping me sleep a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ilya also slotted into the stall next to Aliaksei\u2019s in the Capitals\u2019 locker room, and they practiced on a line together<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of sucks: I got teaching every second from him,\u201d Ilya joked. \u201cBut it\u2019s all right. But yeah, it\u2019s definitely fun. It\u2019s definitely a childhood dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s already spent 19 years learning from Aliaksei as a brother and as a coach: now he has the chance to learn from him as a linemate.<\/p>\n

Asked what lessons he\u2019s taken from the experience so far, Ilya said \u201cProbably just don\u2019t make big mistakes, and always talk on the ice, because he said it makes it easier when you\u2019re talking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plenty of siblings spend their childhoods playing pretend in the backyard, imagining they\u2019ve made the NHL together. Few of them ever make it to the show, and even then they\u2019re usually playing thousands of miles away. But when Ilya takes the ice for his NHL debut on Wednesday<\/a>, he and Aliaksei will become some of the rare few who make the dream real.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a special, special moment for our family,\u201d Ilya said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ARLINGTON, VA \u2014 When Ilya Protas first tried to tell his brother he\u2019d been called up to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5114],"tags":[191,5,4,190,109,5222],"class_list":{"0":"post-546198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-capitals","8":"tag-capitals","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-washington","12":"tag-washington-capitals","13":"tag-washingtoncapitals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116365409902642390","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}