Aliaksei Protas returned to his roots last month, attending a Hershey Bears game with his wife and young daughter at Giant Center. The 25-year-old Capitals star took in the February 7 Bears game on the second day of the NHL’s Olympic break to root for his 19-year-old younger brother, Ilya, the Capitals’ best forward prospect outside the NHL.
While there, Aliaksei not only saw his younger brother score a goal, but he also publicly debuted his newest lid, a bold navy-blue hat featuring a patch with a realistic design of an eagle along with his nickname, ‘Pro.’
Aliaksei also rocked the headwear while posing with his little brother after the game.
The design plays off the Capitals’ Screaming Eagle logo, which is becoming a more prominent part of the team’s branding by the day. The team hosted a literal eagle at a game in October — Brandon Duhaime may still be having nightmares — while the players have integrated the national bird into their postgame celebrations, flashing their make-believe talons in the locker room.
The lid is notable because it’s made by Goorin Bros., a hat company made famous in hockey circles by Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Evgeni Malkin.
Long a fan and wearer of the brand’s hats, Malkin began wearing a custom lid with a realistic penguin and his nickname ‘Geno’ five years ago. The company has sold the ‘Geno’ penguin hats on its website and currently has offerings for Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang available for purchase.
The Belarusian Protas, a part of the Capitals’ Russian contingent, has long been friendly with Malkin, even having dinner with the Russian centerman, along with Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Alex Alexeyev, at his house before a Capitals-Penguins game several years ago.
So, behind the scenes, was this hat an Evgeni Malkin-Aliaksei Protas collaboration?
“No, no, no, I didn’t talk to him,” Protas told RMNB’s Katie Adler. “Obviously I got connected through the guy who knows him really well, But no.”
The question then stumbled unintentionally onto something much larger.
“I just saw those hats somewhere, back home (in Belarus), and I really liked them,” Protas continued to her. “So I came here (to DC), I started to buy those, wear those, and I really liked them. And I think my wife made [the Pro hat] through my friend. They connected to the guy, and he made those custom ones, and I realized this might be the nice team gifts. So I bought them for everybody. Not with my (name), but there’s different nicknames for the boys.
“Mikey, Willy, I think Chucky,” he continued. “Nothing really crazy.”
And Pro’s teammates were appreciative.
“It was awesome,” Dylan Strome said of his new eagle hat that reads ‘ZINI.’ “I was surprised when we got it. It was nice. I like them a lot. Really nice of him. Nice guy.”
When asked of the favorite hat nickname he observed, Strome pointed to Jakob Chychrun’s lid.
“Strip!” he said.
Anthony Beauvillier has been frequently spotted rocking his Protas-created headwear in the locker room. His nickname on the hat features an alternate spelling of how some professional journalists — AKA: me — would spell it: Bovi vs. Beauvi.
Then there are some nicknames that are yet to be explained.
“Cat,” Matt Roy said, unamused. “It’s just the nickname I got for some reason.”
“I don’t know the story behind it,” Roy continued, “so you’ll have to ask Dowder.”
[Editor’s note: Note to self, ask Dowder about this for a future story.]
Not only did every player on the Capitals receive a hat, but Protas gave one to his beloved Capital-in-training down in Hershey.
“Oh, that one, yeah, he gave me one,” Ilya Protas said. “Mine says Lil Pro, but I didn’t know he gave it to the team.”
While the gift was certainly thoughtful, Aliaksei, ever so humble, was quick to deflect praise for his originality.
“I know other teams did the same thing,” he said.
The lids, too, were significantly more cost-conscious than Alex Ovechkin’s recent team present: Hublot watches after he broke the NHL goals record.
Regardless, Aliaksei felt pride in his work and believed the team really appreciated it.
“I think boys loved it, pretty much,” Protas said. “I think it’s a nice gift. Even if you don’t want to wear it or something, you can give it to family members or something. I think it’s still pretty cool. And, I mean, obviously, you never know what’s part of the hockey, but people come and go, and it’s just nice, memorable gift, I believe, just with the eagle and stuff. I think it’s pretty nice.”
Additional reporting by RMNB’s Katie Adler.
