Photo: Aliaksai Protas and Tanya Zavadich
On Tuesday, the Capitals announced that forward Aliaksei Protas would not be able to play in Tuesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, as he and wife Tanya Zavadich were awaiting the birth of their first child. The couple announced via Instagram that they had welcomed a beautiful baby girl.
The Protases shared a picture of themselves with the new arrival, both parents looking already-smitten.
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Tanya captioned the picture with, “Welcome to this world, our angel.”
NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, broke the news on Twitter on Tuesday:
Aliaksei Protas won’t play for Capitals tonight to be with his wife, who is expecting the couple’s first child, team says.
Joe Snively, who was called up earlier today, will likely play in his place.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) February 14, 2023
Protas, who has recorded three goals and 10 Points in 43 Games Played in Washington this season, was back at practice on Wednesday and reported his baby girl arrived at midnight and that both mother and daughter were doing well.
Protas back at practice today. He said baby arrived around midnight last night. Mom and daughter are doing well.
Congrats to them. https://t.co/q93KobCtL9
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) February 15, 2023
The 22-year old Protas was drafted by the Capitals with the 91st overall pick in 2019, and has shown promises of being a major player in the Caps’ lineup in the future.
Congratulations to Aliakei and Tanya on their new addition.
By Diane Doyle