Raider billet, fist-bumping fan and "Viper of Vitebsk" nickname maker Roger Pagé stands in his basement with his Alex "Viper" Protas bobblehead. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Jeff D’Andrea

The Viper of Vitebsk

Raider billet dad who created ‘Viper’ nickname glad to see new Protas bobblehead

Sep 23, 2021 | 4:15 PM

“Viper,” the now-famous nickname of former Prince Albert Raider Aliaksei Protas has taken on a life of its own.

Nobody in the Raiders’ dressing room called Protas anything but “Viper” when he played for the team from 2018-20. Just moments after the Washington Capitals selected Protas in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, journalists in media scrums asked him about his serpentine nickname. It’s even gotten international fame, with coverage on NBC Sports, and spread like wildfire across hockey blogs.

And now, the Raiders have immortalized Protas and his reptilian moniker in the form of a bobblehead, featuring Protas holding a large snake around his shoulders. The “Viper” bobblehead will first be made available at the Raiders’ preseason game on Friday against the Saskatoon Blades at the Art Hauser Centre.

And the man behind the nickname that preceded all this couldn’t have been more excited to see it.

Roger Pagé not only created the “Viper” name himself but also billeted the Belarussian for the whole time he was in Prince Albert. When Pagé found out the Raiders were making the Viper bobblehead, he couldn’t contain himself.

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“I was excited, probably a little too much for a grown adult,” chuckled Pagé.

The “Viper” nickname is actually a shortened version of what Pagé created, with the original being “The Viper of Vitebsk” to tie in Protas’ hometown in Belarus.

Pagé came up with the moniker while watching one of Protas’ earliest skates with the Raiders to start the 2018-19 season. How Protas slithered around the ice with his long and lean frame, and his quick venomous snapshot reminded Pagé of a slick, deadly snake.

“Seeing him move like that down the ice, and that quick release that he had, that snap from the hash marks, I said ‘that’s a strike’ and it just kind of went from there—’The Viper of Vitebsk,’ it just kind of rolled off my tongue,” Pagé said.

Pagé admitted that Protas wasn’t too keen on the nickname but decided to roll along with it when he saw how much the fans loved it and how much attention it was getting.

On Feb. 2, 2019, the Raiders wore the specialty nickname jerseys for the WHL Suits up with Don Cherry to Promote Organ Donation Night. Each player had to come up with a nickname to put on the back. Protas just wanted “Alex” on his back, as many in North America were confused by his full first name of “Aliaksei” (pronounced like Alexei).

But the business minds in the Raiders’ front office decided to spice it up and go ahead with “Viper,” which impressed the rest of the Raiders and the team’s fans.

“To this day, I don’t know if he really likes it, but it’s taken a life of its own. He smiles whenever he hears it, so if that smile’s because he’s gritting his teeth, or if that smile is genuine, it’s taken a life of its own. It’s him,” Pagé said.

The Aliaksei Protas bobblehead, surrounding by hats of teams he has played for, that his billet Roger Pagé collects. (Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff)

Living with the Viper

The Pagé’s have been a part of the Raiders for a long time. Kim Pagé works for the team as its director of ticketing and the family has volunteered in numerous ways to help the team.

But before Protas, the Pagé’s had never billeted a player before— apart from a temporary arrangement during the 2018-19 preseason.

Protas was brand new to North America while still learning the English language when he first arrived, and the Pagé’s were new to being a billet family. Roger said both the family and Protas went through the unknowns together and formed a special bond.

Protas had never played baseball before, so shortly after his arrival, he and Roger had a little catch at the park. Anytime they had to go drive somehow, Roger said Protas would always immediately call, “shotgun” so he could take over the vehicle’s sound system and put on Russian music. This became such a pattern that the Pagé sisters, Brooklyn and Cailin, started to memorize them all.

“He instantly became part of the family,” Roger said. “Every conversation we had was memorable for memory sake, or memorable because he would burn me with some zinger. He was witty. Every memory is a good one.”

And of course, anybody that follows Roger on Twitter knows about the competitive and intense Mario Kart tournaments. Some of the fun times during these video game sessions actually made it to the ice.

During one tournament, Protas had finished so far ahead of his competitors that he had time to rub in the victory. He crouched down and put his hand above his eyes, pretending to look into the distance as he waited for everybody to cross the finish line. Not long afterward, Protas did the same celebration in front of the Art Hauser Centre crowd, in an 8-2 win over the Spokane Chiefs on Oct. 20, 2018. (It’s the first goal in the highlight reel below).

Protas has since turned to the professional game and is currently with the Hershey Bears—the AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals. But since the Pagé’s treasured their time with Protas so much, they’ve decided to keep billeting players.

This preseason, they currently have two rookies staying with them in 17-year-old goaltender Max Hildebrand and forward Alex Mack, who just turned 17 on Tuesday. The nickname-giving Pagé calls the pair “the Mack and Max Show” and is excited to see them develop as players and as people.

“If anyone ever has the inkling or just the thought of ‘can I billet? Can I do this?’ It’s part of your family. If you’re a family person, billeting is for you. I can’t express that enough. Billeting is so cool, and anyone hearing this will absolutely love the experience,” Pagé said.

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Jeff.dandrea@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW