Week Ten - April 29th

- Week Nine saw Ihsan salvage a tie with Emaan, Shukr pile on the misery for Haya and Sabr and Ikhlas end in a tie in a game both desperately wanted to win.

- Emaan was coasting to another win which would have clinched them first place but a late goal from Salman Khalid got Ihsan the tie.  A crucial point for Ihsan as they are in a fight for a playoff spot.  Emaan is in the drivers seat to clinch first place and no matter what happens already have a top-two finish locked up.

- Haya suffered another loss, their fourth in a row but even worse a big injury issue as Rayhan Malik took a slash during the game that has resulted in a broken bone in his foot and will cost him the rest of the season.  Malik has been a bright spot for Haya this season and the team will be in a scramble to try and replace his contributions to the team.  The loss of Malik will also break up the Ernie and Bert combination he has with Shoaib Bhatti on Haya.

- Ihsan has received a boost with the appearance of Amir Multani who has found his game.  GM Fuzail Thakur was said to be extremely concerned that the enigmatic Multani was struggling so much but after last week, Thakur was seen taking down these signs he had posted around the city.

- Shukr got a critical win last week but at a heavy price as reports are circulating that Kashif Taqiuddin suffered a calf injury that may keep him out for the rest of the season.  A big loss for Shukr losing their leader on the floor but the silver lining is that they will still have Coach K behind the bench and with him focused on one role now expect this team to be even better organized than before.

- The early struggles for Ihsan seem long gone with a win and tie in their last two games and the team starting to gel together.  Ahmad Hathout has found a rhythm with 8 points in his last 3 games - but 0/8 in his pledge to score the fastest goal to start a game.

- Sabr was clinging to a 1-0 lead late in their game against Ikhlas but the latter scored to even it up with just 29 seconds left.  The win would have put Sabr into a playoff spot and dropped Ikhlas to last, instead Ikhlas holds onto 4th place and Sabr is in a fight to get out of last.

- Arif Bijabhai will look to the final two games of the season as an opportunity to show his former team that it was a mistake to trade him as he goes up against Ikhlas.  In four games with Ikhlas he had zero points and his team did not win a game with a combined score of 16-4 over the four games.  Since joining Emaan and being placed on their second line he has 6 points in four games and his team is undefeated.

- The final two weeks has teams in a home and home series with Emaan/Ikhlas, Shukr/Ihsan and Haya/Sabr facing off and each series having a direct impact on the playoff picture.

Player of the Game Video's have been posted:
Shukr vs Haya - Not available as Coach K is keeping his players away from the media
Ihsan vs Emaan - Tariq Hathout with a solid two-way performance against 1st place Emaan
Sabr vs Ikhlas - Not available

Week Nine - April 22nd

- Week Nine saw Emaan build their lead in the race for first, Ikhlas picked up a huge win over Sabr to jump into 4th while Ihsan gets their first win of the season

- Ihsan opened the night with their first win of the season as they took down Haya whose tailspin continues.  Ahmad Hathout is starting to find his groove with a pair of power play goals to lead his team - although he's now 0/7 on his promise to set the record for fastest goal.

- Ikhlas pulled off a huge win against Sabr which jumps them out of last and up to 4th place.  Their youth movement continues to play well as Humza Chaudhry put up a pair of goals while Arslan Mian netted the game winner.  Ikhlas now has two wins in their last three games, the struggles that started the season seem far behind them now.

- Despite their struggles, Haya was thankful for goalie Kaunain Saiyed played through an injury to ensure that his team did not have an empty net against Ihsan.

- Shukr didn’t win their game against Emaan but Coach K was commended for a strong effort, scoring his teams only goal and he has six points in his teams last four games.

- The struggles for Amir Multani continue as he has yet to get a goal and picked up what were described as a pair of phantom assists in his last game against Haya for his first points of the season.  Ihsan GM Fuzail Thakur has been trying different things to get Multani going but to no avail.  Despite the struggles, Multani has made guarantees of leading his team to the playoffs and a championship.

- Zaid Majoo continued great play for Ihsan as he got the shutout in a 3-0 win and this was his third shutout in four games while playing for Ihsan so they have to be excited about the teams prospects as the playoffs approach.

Player of the Game Videos have been posted:
Ihsan vs Haya - Zaid Majoo with the shutout as Ihsan gets their first win
Emaan vs Shukr - Khalid Mufti with a great performance in net as Emaan wins
Ikhlas vs Sabr - not available

Week Eight - April 15th

- Week Eight saw Emaan win again, Shukr jump into 2nd and Ihsan letting a 3-0 lead slip away to end with a tie and remain in last.

- Emaan's offense was expected to be lethal and the addition of Arif Bijabhai only increased their potency.  Their top line is leading the league in scoring and while they get significant amount of playing time they have produced.

- Ihsan felt like they were on the verge of their first win as they built a 3-0 lead over Sabr but seemed to let up and ended in a 3-3 tie.  Good news was that Ahmad Hathout broke out with his first points of the season with a goal and an assist - although 0/6 in his quest for fastest goal.  Amir Multani had some jump but remained pointless again and GM Fuzail Thakhur will need to find a way to get Multani on track.

- Haya had to use Sameer Subedar on short notice to fill in for regular goalie Kaunain Saiyed who was injured the previous week against Emaan after a taking a hit to the chest.  Subedar had just played a tough game for Shukr (earning a shutout) and played back-to-back yet was able to make some great saves in a losing effort for Haya.

- While on the topic of goalies, Fraz Khan made his return from injury and looked solid.  While his team had a 3-0 lead and ended in a 3-3 tie, it could easily have been a loss were it not for the glove hand of Khan who made a pair of spectacular saves in the final minute to preserve the tie.  Ironically, a few days after his effort to preserve Ihsan’s tie against Sabr he was plucked as compensation by Sabr and will now look to keep his new team in a playoff spot with some big games coming up.

- Haya has struggled without Captain Waqar Khan who has gone AWOL on his team.  Initially it was thought that he went looking for his jersey but some have suggested his search is for something much more important...#WifeSearch2016

- The next couple of weeks will be tense between Ikhlas and Sabr who face each other for a pair of games.  With Sabr just a point ahead of Ikhlas in the standings this will be critical for the teams to get a grip on a playoff spot.

- It’s not clear who is sick of who at this point, but Arif Bijabhai has faced Haya four times this season, twice with Ikhlas and twice as part of Emaan.  While his first two games he was shut out, the last two he put up three goals and three assists.  An observer joked that Sabr should make a trade for Bijabhai as they have two games left against Haya and could give the forward the chance to face the same team six times.  Another noted that Bijabhai is getting the Stamkos treatment as Emaan is using him on their second line.

- Sadeq Rehman was lost to Sabr for the season with an ankle injury and while the details around the injury are unclear, reports indicate that in a playful wrestling match with Wahhaj Salam where the youngster applied the Ken Shamrock Ankle Lock submission move went too far.  Rehman refused to tap out and the result is an end to his season.

Player of the Game Videos have been posted:
Shukr vs Ikhlas - Not Available
Emaan vs Haya - Arif Bijabhai with three goals and an assist
Sabr vs Ihsan - Shuaib Hussein with two goals and an assist

Week Seven - April 8th

- Week Seven saw Emaan jump back into first, Shukr get a solid grip on 3rd while moving them within reach of a top-two spot and Ikhlas picked up their first win and jumped past Ihsan into 5th.

- The night opened with Ihsan going into a critical game against Ikhlas with an empty net as Fraz Khan continues to recover from injury.  The result was a devastating 7-0 loss that dropped Ihsan into 6th place.

- Emaan recovered from their blowout loss to Sabr a week earlier to control their game against Haya and get a 5-1 win.  Leaving nothing to chance in a game that would decide first place, Emaan rolled out their top line often and the strategy worked as the double-shifts allowed for mismatches that they were able to exploit.  Yousuf Sowdagar finished with 3 goals and an assist while Gehad Alhundi had three assists.  Arif Bijabhai looked good in his debut with a pair of assists.

- For Ihsan the defeat was demoralising on multiple levels, Amir Multani and Ahmad Hathout were shut out again which has observers stunned.  Suffice to say Hathout is now 0/5 in his quest to break the record for fastest goal but to have these two players struggling so mightily is a shock - and one of the key factors in the teams struggle.

- Haya was missing captain Waqar Khan last week with some confusion as to where he was with one observer suggesting he had gone looking for his league jersey in Bangladesh where they were made as Haya had a few sent in at the beginning of the season to have the size corrected and they never returned.

- Ikhlas had a rough start to their season but things are looking up and one of their key players in Humza Chaudhry is finding his groove.  The young winger have five goals and an assist in his past two games - production that many expected from him and now that he is starting to pick it up look for Ikhlas to start winning more.

- Shukr got a boost with the debut of Sadat Malik who was dealing with an injury and missed the first four games of the season.  He finished the game with an assist and looks like a fit for the system Shukr plays under Coach K who must be relieved to have some help as he has been carrying this team all season.

- Umair Ashraf was another player missing for Haya last week, reportedly he was off celebrating his successful contribution to the MAX Gala Awards where he served as MC.  Many praised the work of Ashraf at this event and noted that he handled the pressure better than he has during his I-Slam Debut where he….anyhow credit also goes to Aazar Zafar of Shukr as the driving force behind this great event.

- Sabr took a blow before their game when it was revealed that Osama Soliman has an injured finger and was forced to withdraw.  He will be replaced by Shuaib Hussein who has played with some of Sabr’s key players before and will be under pressure to replace the production of Soliman who had put up 6 points in four games.

- Shukr got a big win over Sabr last week which gives them a firm grip on 3rd place and just a win away from first place.  Coach K had high expectations for his team and a top two finish was part of that plan so he seems to be getting his team to where they were expected to finish as the season progresses.

- In the big win Ikhlas had last week over Ihsan, the effort of Rayhan Taqiuddin stood out for some additional praise, he used his body to wear down opposing players and a big collision with Ihsan forward Ahmad Ibrahim left the latter down for a short time.  Taqiuddin was credited with some solid back-checking on the Ihsan forwards in helping to limit Amir Multani and Ahmad Hathout and added an empty net goal in the final minute of his teams big win which jumped them out of last and into 5th place.

- There are reports that there will be a bit of a goalie shortage this week with some minor knocks taking net minders out for the week, expect to see Sumeer Subedar, Zaid Majoo and Sheraz Mahmood filling in for teams in need.

Player of the Game Videos have been Posted:
Ikhlas vs Ihsan - Humza Chaudhry (video not available)
Emaan vs Haya - Yousuf Sowdagar (video not available)
Shukr vs Sabr - Aazar Zafar with three goals in the win

Week Six - April 1st

- Week Five saw a Haya make a surprising jump into first place, Sabr get their first win and the Ikhlas struggles continue

- Ihsan was hoping to get a win against Haya but found themselves facing an uphill battle as Nadeem Faqiri was not available and Amir Multani was a late scratch due to fitness after predicting a big game for himself.

- A common theme last week was missing goalies, while Sabr and Ihsan used Zaid Majoo as a fill-in, Shukr was not so lucky and forced Coach K to be creative in his teams game against Ikhlas.  In a masterstroke, Coach K convinced Akib Malik to suit up as a goalie and the former best defensive forward got the job done, backstopping his team to a 4-2 win.

- Haya was predicted to have penalty issues this season with Rayhan Malik and Farrukh Khan in the lineup but over their first three games both players stayed out of trouble.  That changed last week against Ihsan where both players took two minors each and forced Haya to kill numerous penalties.

- Ahmad Hathout remains without a point this season, one of the major factors as Ihsan has stumbled out of the gate.  The two time scoring champion has had chances but has not been able to finish anything, also he is now 0/4 in his promise to set the record for fastest goal in a game.

- Sabr pulled off a 7-2 rout of Emaan where Hany Soliman finished with 3 goals and 2 assists and Osama Soliman had 2 goals and 3 assists.  Salman Alvi also finished with 2 goals and 2 assists in a dominant game.

- Shukr was expecting to have Sadat Malik back last week from injury but he was not ready at game time so Coach K shouldered the load patrolling the blue line against Ikhlas.

- Zaid Majoo pulled a rare back-to-back performance where he backstopped Sabr to a 7-2 win before losing to Haya 2-1.  He was strong in both games and considering he had just finished playing, was sharp against Haya and his quick glove hand shut down a 5-on-3 power play advantage for Haya.  Both teams had reached out to Sheraz Mahmood but Sheraz Bhai was not able to play forcing Majoo into double-duty.  

- After Emaan and Ikhlas both lost last week, they made a blockbuster trade with Arif Bijabhai and Saqib Sheikh moving to Emaan in exchange for Saqib Khokar and Imran Lakhanpal.  Bijabhai is the best player in the deal despite his struggles this season and Sheikh may be an underrated add on as he is a strong defensive center that can help Emaan down the middle.  In Khokar and Lakhanpal, Ikhlas is hoping for some veteran leadership and versatility as both players are able to play on the blue line - the glaring deficiency for Ikhlas this season.

- The league was on a bye for March 25th, which lined up perfectly for Ahmad Hathout who organized a team outing to watch the new Superman vs Batman movie.  It was noted last week that he refers to himself as Batman but strangely against Haya he referred to Waqar Khan as Superman - making it seem as though the Haya vs Ihsan game was a preview of his favourite movie.

- Week Six has some interesting match ups as Ikhlas faces Ihsan in a battle for 5th, Shukr and Sabr face off in a battle for 3rd while Haya and Emaan meet to decide 1st place.

Player of the Game Video's have been posted:
Shukr vs Ikhlas - Kashif Taqiuddin (video not available)
Sabr vs Emaan - Hany Soliman leads Sabr with 3 goals and 2 assists
Haya vs Ihsan - Azhar Kalair is key in Haya's 2-1 win over Ihsan