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