- Haya came into the playoffs as the top seed but injuries eventually caught up as they were without Aazar Zafar and Junaid Mohammad, playing without your top two draft picks will eventually come back to hurt you.
- It should be noted that Ihsan was playing without GM Salman Khalid for both games and Nauman Abbasi for Game Two. Abbasi promised to have a better showing for his team in Game Two after watching the video recap from Game One. It wasn't clear if his statement that he would help his team win Game Two meant that his team would be better of playing without him.
- Haya actually roared out to an early 2-0 lead and seemed well on their way to making the finals but Ihsan got a goal in the final minute of the first from Yousuf Soliman who never gave up and his hard work (and a guarantee that his team would win) would pay off as Ihsan scored twice in the final three and a half minutes of the game to force overtime. The five minutes of extra play solved nothing and Ihsan advanced by outscoring Haya 3-1 in the shootout.
- It takes a great deal of confidence to guarantee a win, Coach K reportedly did it for Emaan with seconds left and up two goals over Shukr - but Yousuf Soliman showed a level of hubris not often seen as on video he guaranteed that despite just minutes left and his team losing 2-1 that they were going to win the game. The fact that Ihsan managed to pull it off saves him from having that clip thrown in his face but he did rally his team when they needed it the most. It should be noted that Soliman took a silly hooking penalty late in Overtime and as a result was not eligible to take a penalty shot - fortunately the three Ihsan shooters managed to score and save him from potentially watching his team lose from the box.
- Haya ends their season on a sour note but should hold their heads up high, they started the season on fire and it was more injuries than anything that derailed their season. Yusuf Kapoor was solid in net once again (as he was for Haya in the Fall Tier-2 Season) and always gave his team a chance to win.
- Shukr was an enigma to deal with, seemingly never strong enough to deliver the knockout punch they ended the season with a 3-1-6 record, the six ties are a new (dubious) league record. The team drafted goalie Khalid Mufti in the first round and he rewarded them with a strong season and was their rock all year. Inconsistent attendance from their stars along with those stars not scoring was their undoing. The team ended the season with the best defence with only 17 goals against but the second worst offence with only 16 goals. Ibrahim Hindy was solid this year finishing with seven goals and nine points, his end to end game was solid and he led his team by example.
- For the Emaan/Shukr playoff series, Shukr had a chance to steal game one (even though they were missing many of their stars) but collapsed late. The star of the series though was Waqar Khan who anchored Emaan's top line and ate up Shukr seemingly at will. Khan finished the series with two goals and four assists. His wingers also had a big series with Furqan Salam putting up two goals and three assists while Arif Bijabhai put up two goals and an assist. That's 14 points over two games for the trio which was a key for their series sweep over Shukr. The trio (well more Waqar and Arif) always got back defensively and were not on for any goals against - the big difference in the series.
- Emaan almost played Game Two without Bilal Pervaiz who stumbled in as the second half was starting. Reportedly he intended to take a short nap prior to the game but slept longer than intended, only being awoken near the start of the game by his teammates trying to find out where he was. Pervaiz managed to get to arena to contribute as he scored (a bit of a lucky goal) on his first shift. It seems that the additional beauty sleep paid off - well perhaps less beauty and more beast but I digress.
- This will be the first trip to the finals for Emaan's Coach K, Kashif Taqiuddin has had a solid season, leading his teams defense core in scoring and bringing his leadership to the team which has helped them make the jump to the finals. No doubt Ihsan will look to limit his creativity in breakout plays hoping to disrupt Emaan's offense. Taqiuddin has talked of his one-on-one work with Furqan Salam, trying to make him a better two-way player as he did for Waseem Bangash in the fall season.
- Ihsan has been here before, three times before to be precise. In a remarkable show of stability, Ihsan has made the finals in every Spring Season, winning the first one and losing last season after being decimated by injuries.
- The two meetings between these teams saw Emaan win 3-2 and the teams tie 2-2. Hard to make predictions but this should be a great series with a lot of sub-plots to make it entertaining. Various Cambridge players are facing off, long-time friends Nadeem Qureshi and Kashif Taqiuddin face off. Emaan facing a pair of their favourite players to watch in Ahmad Hathout and Yousuf "Drake" Soliman. This will also be a chance for Waqar Khan to show that he was truly deserving to win the scoring title over Ahmad Hathout who racked up seven points in the final two games against a listless Ikhlas - one of those games shooting on an empty net.
- Finally, after Emaan's win a player from Shukr suggested that the league should bring in testing for Performance Enhancing Drugs, referencing this picture showing Waqar Khan and Jibran Salam who are either putting in a lot of time in the gym or are getting some help.
- Video Recaps are up for both games, some great highlights (especially for the Ihsan comeback) so make sure to watch!
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