Hockey players are famous for their nicknames. Bonsai, Ovi, Backy, Osh, and Tiger are all famous Capital nicknames. Now forward Ilya Protas apparently has a new one. Lil Pro, the younger brother of Capitals forward Aliaksei Protas, was interviewed by Ian Oland over at RMNB and revealed his new teammates call him PJ, as in Protas Jr. It’s funny, but I’m still fond of Lil Pro. It’s the irony. The Protas brothers are not small men by any stretch of the imagination. Have you taken a gander of how big Lil Pro and Big Pro are next to Tom Wilson? Jumping Jehosaphat! No wonder Ilya’s coach in juniors called him “Moose.”
Now, I’ve never seen a moose, but Jim Gaffigan once said they are as big as Transformers. The Protas boys are transformer big. They are a couple of moose who can stick handle through the defense, thread to the needle to the trailer forward for a goal. I can see the two forwards make it really tough for opposing teams to come down to F Street next year. The line combination of both Protas brothers and Tom Wilson just seems like a nightmare to have to play. PJ didn’t seem overwhelmed at all.
I have seen highlights from Hershey where Lil Pro drove the net, drew the defense to him before he skated around the net and threw the puck threw the crease onto the stick of a teammate. Andrew Cristal and Ivan Miroschnecnhko scored a lot of goals like that in Hershey this season. PJ already assisted on big brother Aliaksei Protas’ goal on a pass through the crease against the Penguins in his second game on April 11th. It reminds me of Evgeny Kuznetsov’s signature drop-pass, where he starts to skate behind the net and then catch everyone off guard with that backward flip. Ilya isn’t as slick and talented as Kuzy, but it is encouraging to see PJ make plays at the NHL level like he did in the AHL.
But PJ has only played four games in the NHL. He has yet to really be tested. Pittsburgh didn't play Crosby or Malkin and a few other top players the night PJ racked up three points. I would like to see him do that with those guys in the lineup next year, especially in the playoffs. Still, it was an encouraging start. We will have to wait until training camp to see if Ilya Protas is indeed ready for the NHL. However, if he keeps driving to the net and rifling the puck through the crease, the Capitals are going to score a lot of goals next year with Protas Jr. on the ice.
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