Week Fourteen - December 19th

- Game One of the Tier-1 Finals was a close one that saw the teams exchange goals in the first period and then turn into a defensive battle the rest of the way with Taqwa emerging as the winner after a shoot-out.  (Video Recap Pending)

- Taqwa was missing offensive dynamos Osman Buttar and Mohammad Bilal as well as Captain Naveed Mohammad for Game One so winning the game while missing key players was big.  A lot of credit for the win should be given to their third line of Danial Umar, Erfan Bhanapatel and Zaid Toorawa who manufactured the teams first goal with a great bit of hustle on the forecheck.  The trio was sound defensively and gave Taqwa a boost when they needed it most.

- Ihsan will be left looking for answers after dropping Game One, they had all their key players except for Mustafa Alam who booked his trip to Disneyland to celebrate a championship a bit too early.  In the penalty shootout Sajjid Ayubi and Usama Mahmood were both stopped which is not something you would expect.

- The Tier-2 playoff picture settled with each game played impacting the standings.

• Haya demolished Ikhlas by a 7-3 final score, with the win Haya jumped to first
• Ridha defeated Shukr by a 1-0 score to clinch the final playoff spot
• Zuhd defeated Yaqeen by a 3-1 score to jump into second place

- The Ridha vs Shukr game had a large crowd in attendance last week, Ridha was missing Imran Lakhanpal and Faheem Kotwal but still managed to grind out the 1-0 win.  The added nuance to this game of Talib Contractor vs Nadeem Qureshi (who were traded for one another between the teams earlier in the season) did not disappoint - for Ridha anyhow.  Contractor worked to create the only goal of the game by using his size and speed to go into the corner with the ball and go behind the net where he centered it for Shan Abbasi who made no mistake.  Qureshi was not able to manufacture a goal for his team and Shukr is now done for the season.  

- Looking at Shukr its difficult to understand how they missed the playoffs because coming out of the draft (and after their first game) they looked like a solid team destined for a playoff run.  Sadly the wheels fell off quickly after game one where they did not win a game for the rest of the season.  While some seemed to think goaltending may have been where they would struggle, it was in fact Sadiq Rehman who kept Shukr from crashing out of the playoffs and giving his team a chance to make it right to the end.  Rehman posted the highest save percentage among goalies and it was in fact the Shukr offense that was the big letdown.  With so many talented offensive players it is shocking that the team averaged just 1.5 goals per game.  The team lost three games by a goal and tied four others, a better offensive performance with a goal here and there and Shukr takes those games and makes the playoffs.  If there was a game that (figuratively) broke their back it would be the November 21st game against Haya where they started the game shooting on an empty net but ended the game in a 1-1 tie.

- Yaqeen is another team that should have done better based on their draft but could not put it together - no secret on why they missed the playoffs though.  As good a team as they were on paper they actually needed players to show up to compete.  Yaqeen had one of the poorest attendance records over the season, missing players for almost every game which put them at a disadvantage before the game had started.  A great example was the final game of the season with just ten players showing up and then losing Qamar Mian to an injury early in the second - the rest of the game was a predicable loss for Yaqeen with another short bench.

- It seemed that all of Haya was watching the Ridha vs Shukr game and openly cheering for Ridha to get the win.  They explained it simply that as much as Shukr has struggled they have the players for an upset whereas Ridha would be easy to defeat and get Haya into the finals.  Considering that Haya crushed Ridha twice during the regular season and tied both games with Shukr so the logic makes sense.  With Haya already making plans for the finals they expected to face Zuhd there who they struggled against in the regular season but making for a great finals match-up.

- A lot has been made of Haya and "Coach K" but as he said, the results speak for themselves.  Haya took first place and only lost one game all season.  They scored the most goals by far, have the best goal differential and five of the top eight point scorers and five of the top eight goal scorers.

- Speaking of the top scorer, Waseem Bangash tied for the scoring lead with Amir Multani of Ikhlas and tied for the goal leader with Naeem Akhtar of Zuhd as well as teammate Aazar Zafar.  Bangash had a big game in Haya's season finale against Ikhlas with a goal and three assists (Note: there was some dispute about one of those assists).  Also, there was some question about Haya's display of sportsmanship as Bangash played heavy minutes towards the end of the match which was already a run-time blowout game.

- Naeem Akhtar on the other hand played the final game of the night and showed little interest in personal glory and did not push to get points against a depleted team in Yaqeen who had a short bench and came in knowing their season was over.

- The "Retirement Game" that Ridha's Shoaib Bhatti was potentially playing last week was delayed by his teams defeat of Shukr and advancing to the playoffs.  Now in a daunting match-up with Haya the question has been raised will Bhatti hang it up?  Rayhan Taqiuddin of Haya has already stepped up to say he's looking forward to shutting down Bhatti and ending his playing career.

Week Thirteen - December 12th

- A wild Tier-1 Semi-Final saw Taqwa advance at the expense of Emaan with a 2-1 win.  It was a close game from start to finish (video recap pending) which saw Emaan take an early lead after a great solo effort from Ahmad Hathout only to have Taqwa tie the game and take the lead with two goals in less than two minutes from Farooq Khan and Shaukat Khan.  Some poor discipline led to some players from both teams watching the end from the penalty box so hopefully lesson learned to let your play do the talking.

- It is hard to predict what will happen in a best of three finals between Ihsan and Taqwa, in the regular season series the four games were split with a win for each team and two ties.  Ihsan features the leading goal scorer for the season in Sajjid Ayubi while Taqwa boasts the leading point scorer in Shaukat Khan - Taqwa actually had four of the top five in the point leaders category.

- The last regular season game between these teams was a mess of a game (as predicted here) with no defense and all offense in a 7-5 shoot-out.  Both teams had nothing to play for except personal glory so the result was not a surprise.  It should be noted that Ihsan was missing two top defenseman among other players giving Taqwa forwards more room to operate so the finals should be a more conservative affair.

- Ihsan may have found some nice chemistry between Sajjid Ayubi and Ibrahim Hindy, the latter doing a lot of the dirty work and the former doing a lot of nice finishing.  It will be interesting to see how Ihsan sets their lines for the finals and whether they will attempt to line match with Taqwa.

- An interesting wrinkle, this years Ihsan squad features three key players from the Taqwa team that lost in the finals last season.  Yusuf Ingar, Ali Wadee and Ali Khwaja have all been big boosts for Ihsan this season.  Also these teams completed a trade earlier in the year as Junaid Mohammad was dealt to Ihsan for Erfan Bhanapatel.

- The Tier-2 playoff picture has gotten a bit wild, in the game between Zuhd and Haya (anticipated to be the finals match-up) the teams ended in a tie while Ikhlas defeated Shukr, unexpectedly propelling them past Zuhd and into a tie for first with Haya.  With Ikhlas and Haya meeting this week, Ikhlas has a chance to take first place which seemed highly improbably considering their poor play in the middle part of the season.

- The final playoff spot is still up for grabs with Ridha and Shukr facing each other this week, the math here is simple as Shukr has to win to advance as anything less will see Ridha claim the last spot.  Both teams have squandered chances to lock up the fourth playoff spot, notably Ridha with their 2-1 loss to Yaqeen last week.  A Ridha win over playoff eliminated Yaqeen would have locked everything up but Yaqeen relished the spoiler role and arguably played their best game of the season.

- There are many layers to the Shukr vs Ridha match-up, the winner going to the playoffs is obviously the big theme but these teams also made a big trade earlier in the season where they exchanged star players who were not fitting in.  All eyes will be on Talib Contractor and Nadeem Qureshi who were the main pieces in the deal but Ridha should be weary of Mujeeb Syed who has made an impact since moving to Shukr and will be looking to show that his old team made a mistake in dealing him.

- Shoaib Bhatti of Ridha has said to friends that his game against Shukr may be his last (if they do not advance to the playoffs) as he feels age has caught up with him.  Its been a rapid decline for the one time Most-Improved-Player who has a hand in the record for most goals in a game with four.  One of his friends joked that if a player from Shukr could be identified as also contemplating hanging it up then their game would be considered a retirement match - or a Pink Slip on a Pole match for you wrestling fans out there

- Waseem Bangash was held pointless for the first time this season in Haya's game against Zuhd, Naeem Akhtar managed to pick up three points in that same game and now leads the league in scoring.  The lanky defenseman has been the heart for his team both offensively and defensively and last week had to cover for teammate Fahad Mallik who was creating offense for both teams - his own with his shot and Haya with his giveaways

- Atif Mian from Ikhlas has had a solid sophomore campaign for his team, his finishing is still a work in progress but his hustle has been recognized by his team with greater playing time and promotion to the top line.  That said he seems to lose equipment on a regular basis and theorized that one of his teammates may have an unhealthy obsession with him.

- Speaking of Ikhlas, their GM Group has constantly praised their 2nd and 3rd lines as being the reason the team has had success.  With the various absences and injuries over the season it has been this depth that has kept the team afloat.

Week Twelve - December 5th

- The Tier-1 Playoffs are here!  It was a tight game right to the end last week between Sabr and Emaan with the latter emerging as the winner and moving on.  Sabr gave it a great effort but came up just short which shouldn't take anything away from a tough season which saw them riddled with injuries and player absences that they were not fully able to overcome.

- The Semi-Finals are a rematch between Taqwa and Emaan who faced each other in this game last season.  Taqwa emerged as the winner that time but this year have had issues with Emaan as they struggled in three games between the teams and could only manage a tie and two losses.

- The match-up between Ihsan and Taqwa last week was predicted to be just a game about personal goals and what happened was pretty much that.  A game that ended in a 7-5 win for Taqwa saw some big games from various players and the scoring title change hands as Sami Choudhry was surpassed by teammate Shaukat Khan.

- Sajjid Ayubi defended his goal scoring title as he scored nine goals in nine games and had two goals while paired with Ibrahim Hindy who seemed more amicable to doing the dirty work and setting up Ayubi to finish than his usual linemate in Usama Mahmood.

- Ihsan had already clinched first place so they get to sit back and wait to see who they will face when the dust settles between Emaan and Taqwa.  The break will be a benefit to them as a number of their players have various injuries so they get an extra week to heal.  A few weeks ago Ihsan GM Tariq Ayubi pleaded with Omar Sabri and Ali Wadee to not get hurt (although he only seemed to be looking more at Sabri when he said that) playing I-Slam Basketball and his worst fears were almost realized this past Sunday.  In a game which their team won, Sabri knocked down Wadee going up for a rebound and then almost landed on his face.  Wadee would later laugh about seeing Sabri's large foot about to stomp his face - incidentally both have been key to their basketball teams undefeated start to the season.

- Emaan's Furqan Salam was widely mocked (more by his teammates than anyone) for his name being on the side of a milk carton - stats don't lie as two assists in 10 games won't cut it especially after the spring season where he put up 24 points in 10 games.  Perhaps he should emulate his teammate Waqar Khan who makes an impact both offensively and defensively for his team.

- The Tier-2 playoff picture is getting a bit clearer as now Haya, Zuhd and Ikhlas have all clinched a spot and none can fall below third place.  With Yaqeen's loss to Ikhlas last week they have been eliminated but still get to partake as a playoff spoiler the rest of the way.  That leaves two teams jostling for the final spot:

• Ridha - they face Yaqeen this week who have just had their playoff hopes dashed and are now shifting into spoiler mode which may be a boost as the pressure is off now.  Ridha's season finale is against Shukr which will likely decide who grabs the final spot
• Shukr - this week they face Ikhlas who have just clinched a playoff spot and are now tied for second with a slim chance to move into first.

- Ridha has made an amazing push by winning three of their last five games when they seemed destined to crash out of the playoff picture weeks ago.  Last week they managed a big win over Zuhd by a 4-2 final score.  It should be noted that Zuhd started the game with an empty net and Ridha was clinging to a 3-2 lead when Rizwan Ali finally stepped between the pipes.

- The brain-trust of Shukr came out to watch that Ridha vs Zuhd match-up and were lobbying for Zuhd to use one of the Tier-1 goalies who had just played and commented it wasn't fair that Zuhd would have to play with an empty net - until it was pointed out that they didn't have an issue with that situation when the week before they played Haya who was without a goalie for the first five minutes of the game where Rayhan Taqiuddin stepped in and only let a power play goal get by him.

- Back to Yaqeen, a tough season that many would not have predicted but if you look at the number of absences over key games it starts to make sense.  A team cannot win when attendance isn't consistent as chemistry can never be built.

- Naeem Akhtar was held pointless last week, much to the joy of Haya's Waseem Bangash who was in attendance and watch as he remained in a tie for the scoring lead with Akhtar.  Yet while he remained in a tie with Akhtar, they were joined in a three-way tie by Amir Multani of Ikhlas who had a big game in his teams 6-2 defeat of Yaqeen.  

- Many are predicting this week's match-up between Zuhd and Haya to be a preview of the Tier-2 Finals as it features some of the top scorers and deepest rosters in the league.  With the expected return of Haya's top players as well as "Coach K" it should be a great one to watch.  The last meeting between these teams was a dramatic one as Haya held a 6-4 lead with five minutes left but a collapse saw Zuhd score three times with the winner coming with just 10 seconds left in the game.  Haya will want to show that they are the better team and exact some revenge on Zuhd who are the only team to defeat Haya this season.