Friday 13 November 2015

Week Seven - November 13th

- "Don't call it a comeback, I been here for years!” well maybe not but due to the demand of a few current players along with Amir Multani who while he isn't playing this year indicated that he missed reading about himself on a weekly basis.

- The scoring leaders have the usual suspects with Ahmad Hathout and Waqar Khan but some were surprised to see Atif Mian there in 3rd.  Mian has come a long way since his debut in the league.  Well known for his speed and offensive potential, Mian has put things together this season in a big way averaging two points per game and is currently tied for the league lead in goals.

- Ihsan has had plenty of struggles this season, primarily with attendance but it is still a surprise to see them struggle considering the team has Coach K behind the bench.  In a way it may be Coach K who is at fault as he put this team together and after he claimed successes with building up Waseem Bangash and Waqar Khan over the past two seasons he may have bitten off more than he could chew with the selection of Rayhan Malik.  Malik has the tools to be an impact player but not the discipline.  Coach K seemed to think he could turn Malik into an all-around star but so far things have not worked out.

- Ikhlas was forced to replace Zahid Merchant and though the waiver process ended up with Firasath Ali, a rugged defenseman who will give them another experienced player on the blue line although he is not as offensively gifted as Merchant.  Emaan also fits into this picture as they nabbed Zuhair Fancy off the waiver wire in perhaps a risky gamble, hoping the aging defenseman has something left to help them turn things around - the experts don't see that happening but anything is possible.

- A common challenge for the teams in the bottom half of the standings has been attendance, missing key players and for more times this season than ever before missing the goalie.  There have been a pair of instances where another player was forced to step in to play goalie for the first time (Umer Buksh for Sabr and Baseer Khan for Emaan) or the team just went with an empty net the entire game.

- Yasser Malik is trying his hand at becoming a two-sport star in I-Slam, playing in both Hockey and Basketball currently and in an interesting factoid, playing on Team Ikhlas in both leagues.

- With just four games left the race to the playoffs is heating up, Shukr and Ikhlas and both still vying for first place but both are in great shape for a top-two finish leaving the rest to grind it out for a better position going into the playoffs.

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