Alex Ovechkin<\/a>\u00a0saying earlier in the day that he will make a decision on whether to retire during the offseason, the Capitals are a team in transition from the old guard to the new. Whether the youthful injection into the roster is enough to help lure The Great 8 back for another season remains to be seen but it certainly has to be considered a factor, especially when considering how talented some of these kids are.<\/p>\nThis much is certain: If this proves to be Ovechkin\u2019s final season, he gave the Protas brothers a memorable moment Wednesday by joining them on the same line for the opening face-off. For two siblings from Vitebsk, Belarus, to share Ilya\u2019s first NHL shift with the NHL\u2019s all-time leading goal-scorer, it definitely was a thrill of a lifetime.<\/p>\n
Asked about what he\u2019ll remember about his first game, Ilya replied: \u201cEverything. Rookie lap. First shift. And obviously the game. We got two points. And I got to share my first NHL point with my brother. So, yeah, a little bit of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Including being Ovechkin\u2019s linemate for puck drop.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d Ilya said. \u201cWhen the boys were reading the starting lineup and I heard I was with my brother and the big man, I was so nervous and shaky for a bit. But yeah, it was special. I couldn\u2019t believe it for a second after that shift.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just like it was hard to fathom that he\u2019d be one day playing in the NHL with Aliaksei, who is six years older.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know when I was dreaming about the NHL, it was like \u2026 I would probably have to be drafted by the same organization,\u201d said Ilya, who would end up being selected in the third round (No. 75) in the 2024 NHL Draft. \u201cThen I would have to get into the lineup. And then be on the same line with him? It was something I never thought about, something that never crossed my mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut then you get with the same organization. And then you start thinking about it more. And when I was playing in the American Hockey League this season, you start thinking about it because it\u2019s one step closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so happy that this dream came true.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the giddiness of the dressing room, the two brothers posed with the puck used for Ilya\u2019s inaugural NHL point. If Wednesday was any indication, it was the first of many.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Both now and in the coming years. \u201cIt\u2019s a cool part of my career where I can try…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-592445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}