"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's Calder Cup-winning goal in 2024. The last rookie to finish a season leading the Hershey Bears in points 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 was Ethen Frank, who scored 30 goals during the 2022-23 campaign. Both are in the NHL and currently play for the Washington Capitals."
"Protas jumped atop Hershey's 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). "It was a little bit tough, the first three-in-three," Protas said. "But when you start the game, you kind of lock in and focus on that. And you don't even think what happened previous couple of days. And yeah, you're just in the game and try to give your best effort." The 6-foot-6 Protas scored a goal and authored the game-winning assist on an Andrew Cristall tally to lead Hershey to a 2-1 victory over the Syracuse Crunch, Friday. Protas added another goal and assist in Hershey's 4-3 last-minute victory over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at PPL"
The Hershey Bears' offensive lead belongs to 19-year-old rookie Ilya Protas, who has 10 points in 14 games and shares the team lead in goals with five. Veteran Matt Strome is tied with Protas in goals and scored the Calder Cup-winning goal in 2024. Past Hershey rookies who led the team were Connor McMichael (27 points in 33 games, 2020-21) and Ethen Frank (30 goals, 2022-23), both now with the Washington Capitals. Protas credited teammates for his success, delivered five points across a three-game sweep, and produced key goals and an assist in recent wins.
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