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