When it comes to Aliaksei and Ilya Protas, there's no sibling rivalry; in fact, the brothers, both paving their own paths with the Washington Capitals, feed off each other's success — and they both had their fair share of it this past season.
As older brother Aliaksei put up a career-high 66 points in 76 games with the Capitals, Ilya made headlines in his first year in the OHL, where he put up 124 points in 61 regular-season games before putting up 25 points in 12 playoff games with the Windsor Spitfires.
And for Ilya, a big part of his strong year was his brother's encouragement.
"I learned everything (from him) to be honest," Ilya said. "His success and how he's developed here. He help me, I'm always glad to have him with me... Offseason (training) with my brother and probably (training) camp. Camp here helped me a lot just to see the level where you should work to. Helped me a lot here."
That said, he wasn't surprised to see his brother have his own breakout year at the highest level.
"I think he deserve it. I'm always with him in the preseason. He pushed himself really hard, and it's impressive. His work ethic is really impressive," Ilya said. "I wasn't surprised, I was just really happy."
Aliaksei has been a longtime mentor to his younger brother; after all, the two didn't fight often growing up, and in the rare instances they did, Aliaksei would win. And as Ilya continues to develop and work toward the NHL, Aliaksei remains a close confidant.
The two will talk on the phone often, and Ilya will also stay with Aliaksei in D.C. Going into his second training camp with Washington, Ilya is looking forward to showing his worth to the organization, and at the same time, showing his brother what he can do.
"I'll give everything I have and see where I end up," Protas said.
