HERSHEY, PA \u2014 The Hershey Bears have many accomplished veteran players on their roster, but when they suit up against the Cleveland Monsters on Thursday night, they\u2019ll be led in goals and points by a newcomer.<\/p>\n
Nineteen-year-old rookie Ilya Protas leads the Bears with 10 points in 14 games and is tied for first in goals (5) with veteran Matt Strome, who scored Hershey\u2019s Calder Cup-winning goal in 2024.<\/p>\n
The last rookie to finish a season leading the Hershey Bears in points<\/a> was Connor McMichael, who tallied 27 points (14g, 13a) in 33 games during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season. The last rookie player to lead the team in goals<\/a> was Ethen Frank, who scored 30 goals during the 2022-23 campaign. Both are in the NHL and currently play for the Washington Capitals.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, it\u2019s not what I was expecting,\u201d Protas said to RMNB outside the locker room at Giant Center, Tuesday. \u201cBut it\u2019s awesome to like collect points and give you a little confidence. I think it\u2019s my teammates. They help me a lot. And especially this week, I played like with Bogey (Bogdan Trineyev) and Matt (Strome). And yeah, they did everything for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Protas jumped atop Hershey\u2019s leaderboard after his first professional three-in-three, where typically a younger player will struggle with consistency. Instead, Protas played a major part in Hershey sweeping all three games, notching five points (3g, 2a).<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a little bit tough, the first three-in-three,\u201d Protas said. \u201cBut when you start the game, you kind of lock in and focus on that. And you don\u2019t even think what happened previous couple of days. And yeah, you\u2019re just in the game and try to give your best effort.\u201d<\/p>\n The 6-foot-6 Protas scored a goal and authored the game-winning assist on an Andrew Cristall tally<\/a> to lead Hershey to a 2-1 victory over the Syracuse Crunch, Friday. Protas added another goal and assist in Hershey\u2019s 4-3 last-minute victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at PPL Center Saturday<\/a>, with his linemates, Strome and Trineyev, scoring the other three goals. In a rematch against the Phantoms at Giant Center on Sunday, Protas scored in his third consecutive game<\/a>, backhanding a shot that ricocheted off the end boards into the net.<\/p>\n \u201cWe played great,\u201d Protas said. \u201cIt was pretty good week for us. We got to just keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n Head coach Derek King has not brought Protas along slowly, playing the young Belarusian centerman in all situations \u2014 a rarity for a teenager at this level. Protas has been a staple in the top six at five-on-five, centering either the first or second line and receiving heavy minutes.<\/p>\n Protas plays on the Bears\u2019 first power-play unit and is frequently tasked with skating the puck into the zone after a slingshot. He\u2019s also seen some time on the penalty kill, takes important faceoffs at both ends of the ice, and helps close out games.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s coming along nice,\u201d Bears head coach Derek King said of Protas. \u201cI can\u2019t take all the credit for him. But he\u2019s a pro. You can tell he\u2019s been around a hockey family. And we\u2019ve talked about it before. He just keeps getting better and better every week.\u201d<\/p>\n While the points are nice and may be flashy to fans and journalists, Protas knows that how he\u2019ll really impress Capitals brass is everything else.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most important thing is continue to improve my game,\u201d Protas said. \u201cI have to continue improvement in my game. 200-foot. And especially D zone because, you know, guys are bigger, stronger here. It\u2019s pro hockey already. So I\u2019ll try to keep doing that.<\/p>\n \u201cI said it at the start of the year. This league is, it\u2019s much different than juniors.\u201d<\/p>\n After being a third-round pick of the Capitals, Protas had an eye-opening rookie season with the OHL\u2019s Windsor Spitfires. As an 18-year-old, he lit the lamp 50 times and recorded 124 points in 61 games \u2014 good for the second-most in the league. Protas was awarded the William Hanley Trophy<\/a>, presented annually to the OHL\u2019s most sportsmanlike player, and was named to the 2024-25 OHL Second All-Star Team<\/a>.<\/p>\n Over the summer, older brother Aliaksei served as Ilya\u2019s coach as they trained in their native Belarus<\/a>, with Little Pro saying he did whatever his coach told him to do. \u201cYou see how he works and you\u2019ve got to work the same way,\u201d Ilya said at Rookie Camp in Annapolis<\/a>.<\/p>\n Protas frequently speaks to his family and to his older brother, Aliaksei. He\u2019s noticed that his brother often shares Hershey Bears Instagram posts of his AHL successes \u2014 like his first AHL goal in October<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s happy for me, but you know, he wants me to not stop because in this league, if you want to be up in the big league, you got to continue and be consistent every single game,\u201d Protas said. \u201cYou can\u2019t be like good for a couple of games and then you will have a game off. It\u2019s not what he wants me to do. He wants to be\u2026 He wants me to be a consistent player who is always responsible and play great, strong 200-foot game.\u201d<\/p>\n