Led by former Kootenay Ice captain Pat Iannone, the Arlington Bar and Grill roasted Re/Max 5-3 in the final of the Trail Commercial Hockey League playoffs at the Cominco Arena on Thursday.
It was the Arlington’s first league title, thanks in no small part to the addition of Iannone who led all scorers with 42 goals and 43 assists in 32 games this season. He was a perfect fit for playmaker Jeremy Robinson who also had an outstanding campaign as the league assist leader with 46.
Backed by the strong goaltending of former Beaver Valley Nitehawk Eric Volpatti, the Big A knocked off All Star in two straight matches in the best-of-three semifinal 7-3 and 5-2, before facing the regular-season champion Re/Max in the final Thursday.
The realtors, meanwhile, had a tough three-game tilt with Top Shelf to get to the final, winning the first match 3-0, and tying the final two 4-4 and 3-3 to advance on points.
But in the one game winner-takes-all matchup the Big A would jump out to a 2-0 lead and never look back as they extended the deficit to 5-2 until Re/Max scored late in the third to round out the scoring.
Iannone took home MVP of the the Playoff honours, as well as MVP of the league, while best defenceman went to Colton Seminoff, and best goalie to Chris McIsaac.