Week Fourteen - May 27th

- Wild finish for the Semi-Finals saw Emaan hang on to defeat Ihsan while Shukr gutted out a win over Haya only to lose in a shootout.

- Emaan and Ihsan opened the night with a wild one, Nadeem Faqiri scored just 11 seconds into the game only to have Emaan tie it up a couple of minutes later.  Ihsan then scored a pair of quick goals to make it 3-1 only to have Emaan tie the game within two minutes.  Ihsan again took a 4-3 lead as Faqiri completed his hat-trick but Emaan had their top line score a pair of goals to take a 5-4 lead.  An Ihsan goal with a second left made it 5-5 but not enough as they needed a win to force overtime.

- Shukr worked for a 2-1 win to force overtime which solved nothing sending the series to a shootout.  Waqar Khan scored the only goal in the shootout while Kaunain Saiyed stopped all three Shukr shooters to send his team to the finals.

- In the aftermath of Ihsan losing there were a number of questions about the status of their top player as Ahmad Hathout was reportedly very disappointed with an early exit.  Having come off winning a Fall Championship, the Dark Knight was said to be eager to repeat the feat.  Post-game a player from Emaan circulated this picture presumably to cap off their defeat of Batman:

- After losing Game One the pressure was on Shukr and to add to the challenge they were without defenseman Sadat Malik while Naiem Malik and Nadeem Qureshi played with injuries.  Goalie Yasir Hussain was in danger of missing the game but changed his travel plans for a family wedding in order to play.  A player from Shukr described the various acts made to make the game as a testament to the teams devotion to Coach K that they would go to such lengths to keep battling for him.

- Haya has received an inspired effort from goalie Kaunain Saiyed in the playoffs as he is said to be motivated by not being considered in the running for the Goalie of the Year Award.  His play has certainly been noteworthy getting a shutout against Shukr in Game One and then shutting the door in Overtime and Shootout against Shukr again in Game Two to carry his team into the finals.

- After Shukr’s loss, there was some question as to whether Nadeem Qureshi would be calling it a career once again.  After losing his “retirement match” against Coach K from the last Spring Season he was expected to hang it up but came back to ironically play for Coach K this season.  Qureshi did a short lap around the arena after the handshake line with Ahmad Hathout  and Shoaib Bhatti asking him if this was the end of the line.  Qureshi didn’t have a final answer but reflected on the “I Quit” game he won against Bhatti who was forced into retirement before returning this season.

- Looking to the finals, Emaan comes in confident of an eventual championship and why not?  They blew Haya out twice during both regular season meetings by a 5-1 and 7-4 scores.  They have the top three scorers in the league with Yousuf Sowdagar (34 points), Gehad Alhundi (32 points) and Ibrahim Hindy (20 points).  An unreal scoring pace that no team has been able to keep up with or contain.  They have first overall pick Arif Bijabhai playing on the second line showing how gifted and deep they are offensively.

Player of the Game Video’s:
Emaan vs Ihsan - Gehad Alhundi (not available)
Haya vs Shukr - Kaunain Saiyed (not available)

Video Recaps:
Emaan vs Ihsan Game Two (pending)
Haya vs Shukr Game Two (pending)

Week Thirteen - May 20th

- Week Twelve kicked off the playoffs, Ihsan defeated Ikhlas in the wildcard game that featured a close finish, the SemiFinals saw Haya squeak out a 1-0 win over Shukr while Emaan dominated Ihsan to win Game One of their series.

- The night opened with Ihsan winning the wildcard game, a win guaranteed by Ahmad Hathout.  Ihsan held a 1-0 lead at the half and built a commanding 4-0 lead before Ikhlas suddenly found their groove scoring three goals in under six minutes to make it 4-3 with 1:59 left.  Some careless penalties from Ihsan give Ikhlas a powerplay for the final minutes and but did enough to hold on for the win.

- Haya managed to grind out a 1-0 win over Shukr in a game where the goalies were both strong.  Coach K came in with a plan to contain Waqar Khan and post game pointed to his success in that regard as Khan was held pointless.  In the final minute, Shukr pulled their goalie and was buzzing around the net but some critical blocked shots by Farrukh Khan who sacrificed his body kept Shukr from converting a goalmouth opportunity.

- Emaan had their top line dominate Ihsan over the course of the game, Ihsan did hold 1-0 and 2-1 leads but were not able to shut down Emaan’s offence and were under siege in the second half.  Ihsan attributed their struggles to tired legs having just come off their wildcard game but they will have to play a perfect game if they want to compete in Game Two against Emaan.

- Haya has been up and down offensively of late and with Shukr’s Coach K having success in containing the top line for Haya, it was Shoaib Bhatti who provided the games only goal.  The veteran pulled a crafty move as he scooped a pass from Huzaifa Shahid from behind the net and quickly stepped out front and snapped it in before Shukr goalie Yasir Hussain could get across.

- Ihsan has a mountain to climb against Emaan, not helping the cause is the play of Amir Multani, the gifted forward seemed lost in both playoff games last week and if he cannot get in gear then Ihsan is not going to have any chance to win.

- Haya suffered another injury against Shukr last week, when they met in the last week of the regular season, Rayhan Malik’s season was ended with a slash from Aazar Zafar that broke his toe.  Last week Ozair Naveed was cut down and is going to miss the rest of the playoffs with a fracture in his foot.

- Coach K reportedly took the video of his teams game against Haya to review it in detail, his defensive schemes were strong and they limited Haya to just 14 shots but he wanted to plan a strategy on breaking down Haya’s defence having been shutout.

- Emaan vs Ihsan also featured a battle between family as Akif Waheed faced off against Zain Khilji. While Khilji saw his team get the win, Waheed scored a personal victory as late in the game he caught Khilji with his head down in the middle and laid him out.  Waheed seemed to soak it in with Humza Waheed and Asim Waheed cheering from the stands.

- Sadiq Rehman made an appearance last week as the goalie came down to watch some playoff action.  He was expected to backstop Sabr to the post season but an ankle injury caused by a wrestling mishap with Wahhaj Salam ended his season prematurely and contributed to the struggles for Sabr as they missed the playoffs.

- Most players grow a beard during the playoff season - not really practical for this league where many players already sport facial hair.  Waqar Khan went a different direction by shaving his head and prior to Haya’s win, Umair Ashraf was caught trying to rub Khan’s head for good luck.

- It is well known that Ahmad Hathout prefers to be referred to as his alter ego, Batman or the Dark Knight, but he has now started to give nicknames to teammates in an attempt to motivate them - or he doesn’t remember their names and he finds this easier.  Ahmad Ibrahim is now Bane (presumably for his physical strength) while Mohammed Hamoud is Deadshot (his big slap-shot speaks for itself), Amir Multani has been monikered the Riddler.

- A Twitter Poll was created and those who voted were correct in two of the three results.  Fans picked Ihsan to upset Ikhlas and Emaan to defeat the winner of Ikhlas/Ihsan which both were bang on.  The third poll saw Shukr get picked to defeat Haya and were it not for the heroics of Kaunain Saiyed the polls could have been a clean sweep.

Player of the Game Video’s:
Ikhlas vs Ihsan - Mohammed Hamoud (not available)
Haya vs Shukr - Kaunain Saiyed with a shutout in Haya's win over Shukr
Emaan vs Ihsan - Yousuf Sowdagar (not available)

Video Recaps:
Ikhlas vs Ihsan (pending)
Haya vs Shukr (pending)
Emaan vs Ihsan (pending)

Week Twelve - May 13th

- Week Eleven didn't do much to change the playoff picture but allowed teams to get one last game in before the playoff season begins.

- Shukr made a point of locking down Ihsan who has been playing well as of late defeating them 4-1 with the shutout only spoiled by a late goal from Nadeem Faqiri.  Coach K came in saying that he knew how to shut down Ahmad Hathout and Amir Multani and he backed it up with both players held off the scoresheet.

- Sabr came in knowing their season was over having been eliminated from the playoffs the week before, the surprise was only five players and their goalie showed up.  The combination of Ahmad Kaiss, Baseer Khan, Salman Alvi, Hamza Akram and Mazhar Hussain along with goalie Fraz Khan were forced to play the entire game and put up a good fight against Haya.  The team was only down 2-0 at the half and manufactured a number of chances themselves with Alvi scoring to give Sabr a moral victory.  The final score was 6-1 but hardly tells the tale of the brave “Sabr Six”.

- Emaan finish the season with the top three scorers in the league and fourth on the list being distantly behind.  Their offense is loaded with not one being able to keep up with their top line and have one of the best goalies around so everything is looking up for this team after a first place finish.

- Shukr already had a strong coaching staff with Coach K but he has reportedly added Faisal Malik to his bench staff.  Malik was spotted on the bench last week during Shukr’s win over Ihsan and the veteran will only help this squad as they look toward a long playoff run.

- Haya discovered that they may have a minor celebrity on their team last week as it was revealed that Umair Ashraf has been doing some modelling gigs of late as he works to get into the lucrative “Beard Model” industry.

- Ihsan is counting on Ahmad Hathout, AKA Batman, to guide them in the playoffs.  His slow start long behind him, he carried his team to a pair of critical wins late in the season that got them to the playoffs.  Hathout has redemption on his mind after failing on his promise to set the record for fastest goal to start a game (0/10) and losing out on his quest to lead the league in scoring for the third season in a row.  When asked about Ihsan’s playoff prospects, Hathout replied, “The night is darkest just before the dawn.  And I promise you, the dawn is coming” #DarkKnightRises

- Ikhlas is another team that started slow but picked up key wins late in the season to get them into fourth place.  The play of Humza Chaudhry has been key as the young gun has flashed the brilliant potential everyone expected and finished the season 4th in league scoring.

- Aazar Zafar had a whirlwind couple of days as after getting Player of the Game honours in Shukr’s win over Ihsan, Zafar flew to Miami to watch the Raptors win Game Three of their playoff series.

- Playoffs start with Ihsan and Ikhlas facing off in a wildcard game, the winner will advance to play Emaan an hour later in Game One of the Semi-Finals.  The two regular season games between the teams saw Ikhlas win 7-0 and the teams tie 0-0.  Since then lots has changed for both teams with trades and injury replacements so this will be a wild one to watch.

- Haya and Shukr meet in the other Semi-Final where the teams split season series and while they are evenly matched, Coach K gives Shukr an edge as he has stated that he knows how to contain Waqar Khan.

- Emaan has no clue who to prepare for in their Semi-Final but know that they’ll be getting a tired team regardless and played well against both Ikhlas and Ihsan so are favoured to win Game One.

2016 Spring Season Award Nominees:
In alphabetical order

Islamic Relief Regular Season MVP:
Saleem Malik, Waqar Khan, Yousuf Sowdagar

Best Defensive Forward:
Idris Deen, Farooq Sani, Saleem Malik

Best Defenseman:
Farrukh Khan, Luqman Arshad, Salman Khalid

Top Rookie:
Idris Deen, Huzaifa Shahid, Waqas Kayani

Most Improved Player:
Haris Mallick, Jaudat Wasty, Ozair Naveed

Top Foward:
Ahmad Hathout, Waqar Khan, Yousuf Sowdagar

Best Goaltender:
Khalid Mufti, Yasir Hussain, Zaid Majoo

Naseem Buttar General Manager Award:
Fuzail Thakur, Kashif Taqiuddin, Zuhair Fancy

Brotherhood Award:
Ahmad Ibrahim, Azhar Kalair, Emad Hussain, Luqman Arshad

Week Eleven - May 6th

- Week Ten saw the playoff picture clear up, Ikhlas and Ihsan both won their games putting the pressure on Sabr to win to keep the race alive but their loss results in their elimination.

- Emaan came into Week Ten knowing they had already wrapped up first place and attributed their loss to Ikhlas as the expected letdown as they really don’t have much to play for at this point.  Ikhlas on the other hand needed to come out strong and the win kept them in 4th place

- Ihsan is heating up at the right time, with their big 1-0 win over Shukr last week the team is now undefeated in their last four games and have clinched the 5th seed for the playoffs.  The early struggles seem long gone as the teams’ “Dark Knight” Ahmad Hathout has found his rhythm.  He was shut out last week and falls to 0/9 in his quest to score the fastest goal but his contributions to the teams success are clear.

- With Haya’s struggles well documented of late, they got a late surprise boost as Waqar Khan made his return against Sabr last week.  Khan had just returned from an overseas trip and with limited rest showed up to lead his team to their first win in five games and as a result lock up a top three finish.

- Saqib Khokhar got the winner for Ikhlas against his old team, Emaan, which was surely a bit of sweet revenge for the quick forward who was part of the surprise trade for Arif Bijabhai earlier this season.

- Shukr lost their first game since Kashif Taqiuddin was lost for the season due to injury.  The team knows that they will still have Coach K behind the bench but he was the teams leading scorer and played heavy minutes holding the defence together so the team will need to fill that gap right before the playoffs begin.

- Players from Haya noted that with the return of Waqar Khan suddenly other players were hanging around the dressing room to be near him.  Sajid Khan of Sabr going as far as to change for his game in Haya's dressing room while Wakaas Khan, Ahmad Hathout and Amir Multani all awkwardly hung around trying to chat up Haya's captain.  

- Not to be forgotten in the recent run for Ihsan is the performance of Zaid Majoo who incredibly picked up his fourth shutout for the team.  Majoo has given the team confidence to push forward aggressively knowing that he will bail them out.

- Sabr went into their game against Haya knowing that only a win would keep their playoff hopes alive, but a short bench to start the game allowed Haya to take an early lead.  Sabr did fight back and managed to tie the game with 47 seconds left in the first half but penalties hurt them as Azhar Kalair scored his second Powerplay goal of the game to give Haya the win.

- With the loss Sabr is now eliminated from postseason play, no denying the talent this team has but injuries and player absences cost them points and they were never able to recover.  One game remains which is a rematch with Haya but a win still leaves the team in last place.  #ViewsFromSixth

Player of the Game Video’s:
Shukr vs Ihsan - Not Available as the team was busy celebrating their playoff spot
Ikhlas vs Emaan - Not Available as the team was busy celebrating their playoff spot
Haya vs Sabr - Not Available as the team was busy celebrating their playoff spot