Friday 18 March 2016

Week Five - March 18th

- Week Four saw the top two teams win again while the remaining four teams failed to break apart from each other.

- For the first time this season, all six teams were in action all teams in action in the same night gave teams an opportunity to check out the competition.  Many raved about Emaan’s offence and particularly their top line that seemed unstoppable.

- Ihsan was pumped for the debut of Amir Multani whom they acquired off waivers, Multani was touted as the boost their offense needed to get going but the results were far from that.  Against Sabr they got shut out and managed only 11 shots on net as a team.  GM Fuzail Thakur said that he was not concerned after the game but perhaps he should be, two goals in three games for an offense that was considered one of the best just won't do

- Ikhlas came in with a short bench and struggling and despite a good start, collapsed against Haya and ended up on the wrong end of a 7-1 rout.  Yusuf Kapoor stood on his head early, robbing Waqar Khan on a breakaway and then stoning Ozair Naveed and Azhar Kalair.  Kapoor's heroics kept his team in the game until early in the 2nd half when his team in front of him finally let fatigue catch up and Haya went to work with their forwards left unmarked in front and able to pop in rebounds for easy goals

- Shukr continues to struggle with injuries, last game missing Aazar Zafar who went down with the flu.  The fact that Coach K has kept his team in third place despite so many key players being unavailable is a positive sign for this team for when they finally get everyone healthy

- Haya clearly found their offensive touch last week against Ikhlas, the output from Waqar Khan of a hat-trick was not a surprise, but the boost from the second line was what broke the game open as Asim Gauhar (2 goals, 1 assist), Usamah Rao (1 goal, 2 assists) and Shoaib Bhatti (three assists) were a force all game.  Their hard work early in the game resulted in many chances that Yusuf Kappor turned away but their perseverance paid off in the 2nd half by which time the Ikhlas defense core was running on fumes.

- Emaan's top line continues to set the pace this season, Gehad Alhundi leads the league with 13 points while Yousuf Sowdagar has 11 points and Ibrahim Hindy has 7 points.  This week Sabr has the unenviable task of trying to shut down this dynamic trio.

- Back to the Ihsan, Ahmad Hathout still has yet to record a point this season let alone make good on his statement that he would set the record for fastest goal to start a game - he’s 0/3 for those keeping track.  Hathout has all the tools to turn this around so many are baffled as to the reason for his slow start; one theory is that he is worn down after carrying Sabr to the championship in the recent fall season

- Some observers were curious about Haya and why the full team was not wearing their league jerseys, a team spokesman advised that there was an issue with jersey sizes (Haya along with some other teams) as rather than Ball Hockey Jerseys the team received much larger Ice Hockey Jerseys.  After his big game last week, Asim Gauhar may want to keep wearing his Joe Sakic Nordiques jersey rather than his league jersey whenever it comes back from the manufacturer in the correct size

- Coach K has announced that Sadat Malik will be making his debut and not a moment too soon, fitting him into the Coach K system on the fly will be a challenge but he is a veteran shut-down defenseman who will fit right in.

- Reports indicate that Ahmad Hathout has been trying to motivate his team by impersonating Batman during pre-game chats; going so far as to state: “I’m the hero that Ihsan needs, but not the one it deserves.  Opposing defensemen hunt me, because i can take it. Because I’m your hero.  A silent guardian.  A watchful protector.  A Dark Knight."

- Week Five has some added drama with reports of three teams potentially missing their goalie as Yasir Hussain, Sadiq Rehman and Fraz Khan are not available.  Shukr has already stated that they will be dressing Akib Malik who is one of the best defensive forwards as their goalie in another out of the box move from Coach K as he keeps his team together.  As for Sabr and Ihsan their goalie plans are not clear but one will likely use Zaid Majoo.  Reports indicate that both teams reached out to Sheraz Mahmood to dress for them but Sheraz Bhai declined indicating he had a prior commitment.

- With a tough game against Haya this week, Ihsan GM Fuzail Thakur has guaranteed a big game from Amir Multani

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