False Start For Capitals’ Aliaksei Protas and KHL’s Dinamo Minsk

Photo: Dinamo Minsk

Thursday was to be the KHL season opener for Washington Capitals forward prospect Aliaksei Protas and Dinamo Minsk. In the end, it wasn’t to be.

Dinamo Minsk’s opponent, Jokerit Helsinki, decided not to fly to Minsk due to the political situation in Belarus and issues related to COVID-19 . The game was ultimately deemed by the KHL to be a forfeit by Jokerit.

Protas and Dinamo Minsk will try again on Saturday when they host Barys. The good news, Barys arrived in Minsk Thursday night. As for Protas, he had a goal in four preseason games, centering the 4th line in the last two tuneup games.

Aliaksei Protas scores his first KHL goal for @hcdinamoby in preseason tuneup. Protas started the game at 2C. #ALLCAPS #Capitals #CapsProspect pic.twitter.com/aN1u4frW82

— Jon Sorensen (@jon_m_sorensen) August 16, 2020

In other KHL news, Habarovsk Amur has apparently suffered a significant COVID-19 outbreak.”Due to Covid-19, we won’t be able to play with our best roster. We have recalled players from our junior team to help.” Pavel Torgajev noted in a statement. There have been rumors that the team will hit the road with a roster solely based on VHL (minor league) and MHL (junior league) players.

In Riga, where Barys Nur-Sultan met the hosts Dinamo Riga, one of the match referees tested positive for COVID-19 so the entire officiating crew was pulled from the game. The game was eventually played, with Barys beating Riga, 3-2.

By Jon Sorensen

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.

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