- Game One is in the books and it ended a wash as neither side has an advantage going into Game Two. The first period was scoreless and the four goals scored in the second resulted in a 2-2 tie.
- There were standout performances from a few players, Ihsan goalie Abu Mamooji made some big saves throughout the game to keep his team in it including some spectacular saves in the final minutes to preserve the tie. The captains for both squads also had a notable performance as Ahmad Hathout put up a pair of goals while Waqar Khan was a force throughout and salvaged a tie for Emaan with his goal.
- Ahmad Hathout wanted a strong performance to rebut the "Martin Gelinas" comparisons of his game made by members of Emaan, it was never clear if the comment was meant as a compliment or not - we suspect not...
- Both teams had their full squads for this one as Salman Khalid (travel) and Nauman Abbasi (AWOL) were back and for Emaan they made sure to give Bilal Pervaiz a wake up call hours before game time to ensure his beauty sleep did not run too late as it did during the Semi-Finals.
- Pregame, there was an interesting moment between Kashif Taqiuddin of Emaan and Nadeem Qureshi of Ihsan, both are in the twilight of their careers and the longtime friends have discussed turning the finals into an "I Quit" match. Some caution for Taqiuddin as Qureshi had a similar arrangement with Shoaib Bhatti last fall season in which he prevailed. Qureshi has talked this season of hoping for a sendoff like this one when he finally does retire and take one last lap around the arena.
- Back to Hathout for a moment, he has also been criticized for using a junior sized stick (or child stick as Emaan put it). It is not clear if this shorter stick give him an advantage but considering all the time he has put into the gym it seems strange that he would be trying to play with as light equipment as possible.
- Speaking of the gym, Furqan Salam was reportedly upset with the gym photo published last week with teammates showing the results of their workouts - or in his case lack of results. Salam has indicated that he will be skipping all post-game media events in protest.
- Waqar Khan seemed exhausted at the end of the game and actually had to skip a shift, the result of having to penalty kill a long period of time after some undisciplined penalties from his team.
- Emaan was clearly feeling down after the game and stated that they were the better team and allowed Ihsan to escape with a tie.
- Coach K is reportedly preparing a speech to give to his team in the hopes of inspiring them to win the championship, he knows that he is just a win away from his first championship and is desperate to get it. He talked again of how he has worked to bring his schemes to Emaan and the success they have had to get the team to the finals.
- The Spring Season awards will be presented tonight after the finals, but a pair of winners have already been determined based upon the final regular season statistics.
Scoring Champion is Ahmad Hathout who put up 20 points in 10 games.
Goal Scoring Champion is Waqar Khan who scored 8 goals in 10 games.
Here are the rest of the Nominees:
Regular Season MVP Nominees:
Ahmad Hathout - Ihsan
Naeem Akhtar - Haya
Shuaib Hussein - Shukr
Waqar Khan - Emaan
Brotherhood Award Nominees:
Ahmad Ibrahim - Sabr
Farooq Sani - Ihsan
Rizwan Malik - Haya
Saqib Khokhar - Ikhlas
Best Defenseman Nominees:
Arssal Shahabuddin - Shukr
Naeem Akhtar - Haya
Salman Khalid - Ihsan
Best Defensive Forward Nominees:
Akib Malik - Haya
Ibrahim Hindy - Shukr
Waqar Khan - Emaan
Best Goalie Nominees:
Khalid Mufti - Shukr
Yusuf Kapoor - Haya
Zayd Agjee - Sabr
Best GM Nominees:
Emaan
Ihsan
Haya
Sabr
Playoff MVP - To be determined after the Finals
- The Video recap for Game One is up and can be viewed here
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