Washington Capitals forward prospect Aliaksei Protas has packed a ton of hockey into the last three years. In 2020-21, he played in a total of 91 games, including a full season and a round of playoffs in the KHL, 16 games with the Hershey Bears and 12 international games for Team Belarus. The 2021-22 season saw Protas play 86 games, including 33 games with the Capitals and 42 games with the Hershey Bears.
The 2022-23 season was yet another long, but fruitful season of development for the 6’-6” Belarusian. Protas, still just 22, began the 2022-23 season with the Washington Capitals and finished the season hoisting the Calder Cup with the Hershey Bears. In the end, Protas posted another 87 games for the season. That’s 264 games over the last three seasons, if you’re counting at home.
Protas has finally returned to his home in Belarus for some much-needed and well-deserved rest. He has also begun meeting with the Belarusian national press, where he has discussed the last 10 months of his hockey career, including the icing on the cake, winning the 2023 Calder Cup.
“There were a lot of congratulations. Only a couple of days later I answered everyone who sent the messages,” Protas told Pressball.by. “And it took a long time. And immediately after the final, I called my wife, relatives.”
Protas said he also received messages from his Capitals teammates and new head coach Spencer Carbery following the Calder Cup victory.
”Of course – Alexander Ovechkin, Kuzya (Evgeny Kuznetsov), Alex Alexeyev. Defender John Carlson also congratulated me. It was nice to get a message from the new Capitals head coach Spencer Carbury, from Dima Orlov, although he had become a “Bruin” from Boston by that time,” said Protas.
Both girls knew something special was about to happen.#PRO #CalderCupChamps ☝🏼#HersheyBears 🐻#HockeyFamily ❤️#PardonTheFrench 😯 pic.twitter.com/oQDXOd7Yci
— Cubby Slapp (@rogerapage) June 22, 2023
[Protas’ billet family in Prince Albert celebrate the Hershey Bears overtime Calder-Cup winning goal. Protas also won a WHL championship in Prince Albert].
“First, we celebrated in the locker room. Then we continued during dinner at the hotel restaurant, where wives and close teammates joined us,” Protas said. “Immediately after the game, two cases of beer and a case of champagne were brought into the dressing room, but it all ended quickly. Well, in general, we celebrated for four days: in the hotel, in restaurants, in Hershey, we met with fans. I know that some of the guys continue to celebrate the victory even now,” added Protas.
Protas has already begun light preparations for the 2023-24 season following a well-deserved vacation with his wife and new daughter.
👊👊 #ALLCAPS #HBH pic.twitter.com/C3vLXPjPGM
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) July 18, 2023
“The previous one (season) was long, for so long – until the end of June – I’ve never played before. On Tuesday, however, I had an easy training with Vitebsk, slowly doing stretching, preparing the body for work. But I will turn on to the fullest program after returning from Minsk, where I will go to visit friends and relatives in the coming days.”
By Jon Sorensen
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