The hulking forward scored three times on Friday to help the Windsor Spitfires open exhibition play with a 6-3 win over the Sarnia Sting at the WFCU Centre.
“For me, it was like a regular game,” the six-foot-five, 200-pound Protas said. “I was so pumped for the first pre-season game. I can’t wait to start when I got drafted by the Spitfires. I’m so happy to get the (win) in the first pre-season game.”
The 18-year-old Protas was a third-round pick by the Washington Capitals in this year’s NHL Draft and has already signed with the club. Windsor took him with the third overall pick in the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft.
“He’s so smart and so gifted,” Spitfires’ head coach Greg Walters said. “He’s an amazing kid. He cares about both ends of the rink. He’s not cheating for his goals and his skill set speaks for itself.”
Protas opened the scoring less than seven minutes into the game by throwing a shot from the back of the net and bouncing it in off the goalie.
He added a short-handed goal on a breakaway in the second period and completed his hat-trick in the third period, by crushing a Sarnia defender behind the net to force a turnover, scooping up the loose puck and stepping in front to score his third goal.
“I think I’m more of a playmaker,” Protas said. “(Friday), I was just lucky to score goals and I think I’m more playmaker looking for the pass than the goal.”
For the 18-year-old Protas, Friday’s game marked what will likely be his only exhibition game with the Spitfires as he was set to leave for camp with Washington on Saturday. Still, he believes his camp time with the Spitfires was important ahead of the season.
“This is awesome thing, I (got to) meet all the players, I like hanging out with them, meet coaching staff, meet everyone here and understand how the team playing and how the coaches want me to play,” Protas said. “I’m so lucky to get here before (NHL) camp. I hope we’ll be good this year and I know we will be. I can’t wait to start the season.”
Cole Davis also scored for the Spitfires along with rookie first-round pick Ethan Belchetz and second-round pick J.C. Lemieux.
Rookie goalie Michael Newlove started the game and stopped 10-of-11 shots before giving way to rookie goalie Jake Windbiel midway through the second period. He stopped 14-of-16 shots with the the Spitfires holding a 38-27 edge in shots overall.
The Spitfires now hit the road on Sunday for an exhibition match against the Flint Firebirds at 4 p.m.
