Brothers Aliaksei Protas and Ilya Protas have a close, supportive relationship as adults, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have their moments as kids.
When asked if Ilya ever fought his brother Aliaksei — five years his senior — back in their native Belarus, the Capitals’ third-round pick from the 2024 NHL Draft admitted he had.
“Yeah, we have video actually from childhood, where I was young,” Ilya said on Thursday at Capitals Development Camp. “I did something wrong and he made (me) mad, I think, and yeah, I went to him.”
While Ilya came at Aliaksei with anger and fists, he left the tussle humbled by his much stronger brother.
“But I think I lost that fight,” he said. “But, it’s fine.”
As he stated during his interview with RMNB in May, Ilya stressed that his older brother has been a big influence on his life, noting that the most important lesson he has learned from Aliaksei is off the ice.
“Just enjoy the time and be glad where you’re at and just be a good person,” Ilya said. “I learned everything (from him), to be honest. Yeah, his success and how he developed here and how he helped me, especially. I’m always glad I have him. (I) listen to him every time.”
Aliaksei told RMNB earlier in the year that he watched Ilya’s OHL games throughout the season with a critical eye, revealing the two were always talking.
“Obviously, we are staying in touch like every day almost,” Aliaksei said. “We have a phone call every day, pretty much. Maybe twice a day sometimes, like at night and during the day. Especially during the season, we really talked a lot. And I try to help him as much as I can in terms of like game and everything. And yeah, just he wants to see my daughter, too. So we just have a phone like pretty much every day.”
“He would always support me if I had a bad game,” Ilya countered. “He called me like, yeah, he would give it to me a little bit, but it’s fine. He wants me to get better and better.”
