Re/Max is going into the Trail Commercial Hockey League playoffs with a head of steam following a pair of victories last week to end the regular season.
The Realtors outlasted Arlington 9-7 Sunday, after skating to an 8-6 win over Allstar Thursday night.
Thomas Abenante scored four times, and added an assist while Graham Proulx netted a natural hat trick in the second period to pace the team to the victory over the Big A.
Arlington took an early 2-0 lead on goals from Kris Davis and Pat Iannone but tallies from Justin Bedin and Abenante tied it at two. Iannone put the ‘A’ back up 3-2 with three minutes to play in the opening frame, however, late period tallies by Abenante and Dyne Parker gave Re/Max the 4-3 lead heading into the middle frame.
Three straight goals by Proulx in a 10-minute span launched Re/Max into a 7-3 lead and Abenante increased it to 8-3 before Arlington pulled them back to earth. Iannone scored his third on the night at the 11:00 mark, followed by a goal from Kelly Shipit to cut the lead to 8-5 with 8:12 remaining in the second. Nathan Ehman netted his second of the year to pull the ‘A’ within two, and in the third frame, Jeremy Robinson counted his fifth point of the night to make it an 8-7 game with 4:34 to play. However, that was as close as Arlington would get, as Abenante netted an insurance goal with one minute to play.
Despite the loss the three goals and two assists for Iannone gives him his third consecutive scoring title with 59 goals, 52 assists and 111 points. His line-mate Robinson finished second with 23 goals and 83 points, while former three-time scoring champion Proulx finished third with 36 goals and 53 points.
In the other game Sunday, Gericks Eric Hill scored with 29 seconds remaining for a 4-3 victory over the regular season champion OK Tire. The goal was Hill’s third on the night and 15th of the season. Gord Aiken tallied the other marker for the sportsmen, while Justin Adrian, Joel Graf, and Shane Drake replied for the Tire.
Gericks, however, finishes out of the playoffs, one point behind Arlington who also lost to OK Tire on Thursday 9-4, while Re/Max skated to an 8-6 victory over Allstar thanks to an epic seven-goal performance from Proulx.