Week Eleven - December 16th

- Last week saw Ihsan blow three separate two-goal leads in their game with Shukr that ended in a 4-4 tie.  Emaan took advantage of a short-handed Ikhlas for a 2-0 win despite the effort from replacement goalie Sheraz Mahmood as Sheraz Bhai stepped in at the last moment for them.  Yaqeen defeated Haya 3-0 with both squads playing short benched.

- The Ikhlas-Sabr game has the Prime-Time spot tonight. It is fitting for what is at stake: 1) An Ikhlas win and they qualify for the playoffs, 2) A Sabr win and they qualify for the playoffs, or 3) a tie and Sabr must win their final game against Emaan to make the postseason.  Both teams control their own fate with a win tonight.

- It is expected that Zayd Agjee will be in net for Ikhlas. He was brought in for this very moment, to help get Ikhlas to the playoffs. So far, critics have questioned why bring him in as a replacement if he isn’t going to show up to majority of the games. Now the pressure is on Agjee, he either leaves this week as the ‘hero’ or a ‘bust’.

- In an ironic twist, Nadir Ahmed has been called up as a replacement goalie for Sabr.  The irony is that Ikhlas had Nadir Ahmed fill in for them for their earlier encounter with Sabr.  Nadir played well as the game ended in a 1-1 tie.  Some of the Sabr players described his performance that night  “Carey Pricesque”.  Now Sabr is hoping to turn the tables around on Ikhlas and hoping that Nadir can come through for them.  It should also be noted that Nadir Ahmed was also called up for Ihsan earlier this season as he help them get a 3-2 victory of Emaan.

- According to the poll administered in the week, majority feel Yasir Malik or Rizwan Malik will get the GWG.  Two unlikely candidates, but you never know what can happen in these types of games. The stage is set for anyone to become the hero.

- Ikhlas has been shutout in back to back games, first by Yaqeen and last week by Emaan.  If this streak stretches to three games they can pack up their hockey equipment for the rest of the season.

- A big reason why Ikhlas was shutout in their game against Emaan last week was the play of Ahmad Mobin. His 27 save shut-out performance is most shots faced by any goaltender this season, earning him First Star Honors.

-Speaking of shutouts, Yusuf Kapoor (Yaqeen) now leads the league with three. Yaqeen has not given up a goal in their last two matches.  In addition, Faraz Alvi’s two goals and an assist gave him the third star honours.

- It looks like the league’s decision to invest in goalie equipment is paying for itself.  You know who also was a goalie last week? Zia Ali of Ihsan!  When Zaid Majoo was late for his game, Ali strapped up to avoid his team playing with an empty net.  He held his own and helped Ihsan salvage at least a point against Shukr. Ihsan supporters on twitter has enshrined him with the nickname, “Neo”, with reference to Keanu Reeves’ character from the Matrix franchise. This appropriately encompasses Zia’s IT profession and MMA passion.

- Staying on that Ihsan-Shukr game: Hany Soliman’s 2 goals and 1 assist got him recognized as last week’s 2nd star. Also Arif Bijabhai’s 2 goal performance moved him into a tie for the goal-scoring lead. He now must hope that Waqar Khan (Emaan) and Humza Chaudhry (Yaqeen) do not find twine in their respective games as Shukr has wrapped up their season.

- The door has cracked open ever so slightly for Emaan to displace Ihsan from the summit of the standings.  Regardless of the outcome of Ihsan’s last game against Haya if Emaan can win their remaining games they will finish first overall.

- On this note, it is still plausible for Yaqeen to grab the top spot.  However first they must defeat Emaan tonight.

- Yo Haya players, time to wake up and start taking things more seriously.

- Shukr does not play again until the playoffs.  However, rumor has it that Arif Bihabhai will be away travelling at that time. If true this is a huge blow for Shukr but last Spring Season, Shukr was in the same position with goalie Yasir Hussain whom Coach K convinced to alter travel arrangements to a family wedding in Chicago to play in the Semi-Finals.

Week Ten - December 9th

- Last week saw Yaqeen rout Ikhlas, Ihsan grind out a 1-0 win over a desperate Sabr and Shukr break their two game losing streak with a win over suddenly struggling Haya.

- Firasath Ali was forced to go in net last week as Yaqeen's starting goalie Yusuf Kapoor arrived to the rink late for his game against Ikhlas. The life-less Ikhlas managed a meager two shots against Ali which he had little difficulty making the save. Ali and Kapoor’s effort in net shutout the woeful Ikhlas offense, earning the Third Star Honors.

- Yusuf Kapoor and Zaid Majoo (Ihsan) both got shutouts last week and share the lead in shut-outs with two each. Majoo was rewarded Second Star Honors after his shutout performance against Sabr. Reportedly he got an extra dose of motivation when Naiem Malik guaranteed a Sabr win on Facebook leading up to the game.

- Waqar Khan and Zaid Toorawa of Emaan and Shehryar Khan and Zayd Agjee of Ikhlas are all vacationing in Punta Cana together and will be missing their game this week. Considering what tends to happen on a Toorawa trip we hope that this is as far the story develops.

- It is not uncommon for goaltenders to have nicknames. After Usamah Rao had to go in net for Ikhlas a few weeks back the nick-name “Silent Ninja” was quickly trending over Twitter. Likewise Firasath Ali broke the internet when he had to defend Yaqeen’s cage as the nick-name “The Iceman” started to catch on.

- Last week Zayd Agjee guaranteed that Emaan would not get a goal on him in the December 9th match-up, clearly toying with fans (but hopefully not his teammates) who were looking forward to Agjee facing off against the leagues best offense.

- Whoa! Five out of the Seven teams this season have qualified for the playoffs. The last spot will come down to a tooth and nail battle between Sabr and Ikhlas. Ironically each team have identical schedules which see each team face Emaan and then end the season facing each other. So they are makers of their own destiny and in the end can only blame themselves if the don’t make the playoffs.

- Zaid Toorawa has asked teammates to live stream the game from the bench so he can watch while sitting on the beach in Punta Cana where he hopes to offer support to his team by chirping opponents (and perhaps teammates). No word if any Emaan player has offered to take this on.

-With Zayd Agjee not in the lineup tonight Ikhlas are down to their last goal-tender replacement, Sheraz Mahmood, no word yet if Sheraz Bhai will be able to suit up for them tonight.

-With Waqar Khan deciding to take a personal leave, Humza Chaudhry of Yaqeen gets another opportunity to take sole-possession of the goal-scoring lead. Hopefully Emaan does not suffer the same fate this season as Haya did in the Spring Season when Khan went on vacation and his team lost all four games without him.

-Staying on Yaqeen, Sajjid Ayubi walked away with First Star Honors after posting two goals and an assist helping his team rout Ikhlas.

-With Ihsan seemingly having first place all but secured, it looks like Emaan, Yaqeen and Haya will be fighting for 2nd place which allows them to head straight to the semis.

Week Nine - December 2nd

- Week Eight saw Ikhlas pick up their first win of the season, Ihsan grind out a win over Yaqeen and Emaan batter a depleted Haya to jump into second place.

- Finally Ikhlas got their first win!  Zayd Agjee had some nerves making his season debut after replacing Rahil Ahmad and it showed as the very first shot he faced from Saajid Bhayat beat him to put his team down a goal less than two minutes into the game.  However, he quickly re-grouped and he held his ground long enough for Shehryar Khan, recognized as the 1st Star for Week Eight, to lead the charge at the other end.  The win was huge as it saw Ikhlas jump out into the last playoff spot after being in last since the start of the season.

- The pressure is now on Sabr to get their first win, they've been hanging onto the last playoff spot all season but their three ties are not going to get this team to the playoffs.  Things just got difficult for them as Imran Merchant, their goaltender will no longer be with the team (personal).  With rosters now frozen, Sabr will have to rely on replacement goaltenders in which they can only use three times for their remaining games.  Either that or they might have to consider putting one of their roster players in net for some games.  They did this in a loss to Haya tossing Mubashir Malik in net. Nonetheless they are massive underdogs coming into the home stretch of the regular season

- With only a few games left in the season it will be unwise to leave points on the board.  With that in mind we salute Atif Mian, recognized as the 2nd Star for Week Eight, who somehow convinced his wife and family that he needed step out of a wedding they were at to play in Emaan’s game and as soon as the final buzzer sounded he returned to the reception.  He helped Emaan secure a 3-1 win over Haya who were missing some of their better plays; an amazing demonstration of polar opposites where one player displayed amazing commitment to his team whereas many Haya players abandoned their team in a game that could have helped them gain a first round bye in the playoffs.

- The above point could also be said for Shukr as they earned the dubious honour last week of being the first team to lose to Ikhlas this season.  The game was viewed as a battle between embattled coaches and Belal Hafeez can still hold his head up finally guiding his team to a win, the same cannot be said for Coach K who has his team on a two game slide and falling in the standings.

- Speaking of Shukr - An incorrect tweet was sent out during the week.  Zaid Majoo (Ihsan), Ahmad Mobin (Emaan) and Yusuf Kapoor (Yaqeen) are all tied for the league lead in shutouts - each one of them getting their donuts from Shukr.

- Much has been made of Ikhlas finally getting their first win but coming into the game against Shukr last week the pressure was clearly getting to Ikhlas GM and Captain Shehryar Khan who had a less than cordial pre-game media session.  Fielding numerous questions on the state of his team, Khan ended the session by yelling "Trust the process!" before storming out.  While a win does not erase the six-game winless run to start the season, it does vault them into a playoff spot so a step in the right direction.

- Ihsan continues to generate goals throughout their lineup: Amad Khan, recognized as the 3rd Star for Week Eight, netted the game-winner against Yaqeen.  The lost was costly for Yaqeen in their hopes of finishing first overall.

- Ahmad Ibrahim of Shukr continues to be on the IR, but you know that win, lose, draw or injured the post-game shisha parties are always on.  While his initial claims of staying in shape were that he is still "lifting" seemed to boost the hope that he would be back in form when he returns, the details which came out later that he was lifting his shisha pipe seemed to deflate the hopes of Shukr brass about what to expect from their power forward when he is able to play again.

- No word why Huzaifa Manjra of  Haya decided to show up for his game as a spectator.  Players from Emaan noted that Manjra appeared in the stands in street clothes and seemed uninterested in helping his team - if he was injured he could have at least coached his team.  His teammate Aazar Zafar finally got burnt after playing with fire the entire season as by the time he made his way to the bench Haya was trailing 1-0.  Zafar routinely joins his team after the game has already started but in this game with his team already missing key players it put his team on their heels early.

- After taking over the goal-scoring lead from Hany Soliman, Yaqeen’s Humza Chaudhry has been at the top of the leader board as he is tied with Waqar Khan of Emaan but has a game in hand.  With Emaan on a bye-week for Week Nine, Chaudhry has a chance to gain sole possession.

- Based upon the standings after Week Eight, Ihsan and Emaan have both clinched playoff spots as neither Ikhlas or Sabr can pass them regardless of what happens the rest of the way.

- In a scheduling quirk, Shukr will end their season by next week, December 9th.  For them to feel safe and have some control over their own fate, they will need to grab at least two points in their final games against Haya and Ihsan.  Assuming they do hold onto a playoff spot, Shukr will be off for more than a month - a lot of shisha can be passed around during that time and we know that Ahmad Ibrahim always has his game face on for that!

- Unconfirmed reports are out that Yasir Hussain will be in net for Sabr tonight against first place Ihsan.