Fall Season - Week Three - September 29th

- Week Two saw Shukr flex their muscle for a big win over Ikhlas, Yaqeen grind out a 4-1 win over shorthanded Haya and Sabr stay undefeated and unscored upon.

Three Stars of Week Two:
1st Star: Fahad Mohammad (Sabr) - 20 save shutout
2nd Star: Kaunain Saiyed (Haya) - 29 saves on 33 shots
3rd Star: Khalid Mufti (Shukr) - 25 saves on 26 shots

- Rookie Goaltender, Fahad Mohammad of Sabr has started off his I-Slam career with two straight shutouts. But did Samad Hamidi help him out? In one of his videos, he predicted that Sabr would be able to shut the door against Emaan…in the last few minutes of the game, it appeared from the spectators vantage point that Idrees Deen of Emaan beat Mohammed with a laser of shot. However the two men in stripes disagreed with the fans and called it no goal. The moral of the story is Samad Cherry Hamidi knows hockey - so kids always pay attention in his videos

- After scoring the game winning goal against his brothers team, rookie Wajaahat Watsy of Sabr insisted that Jaudat Wasty carry his equipment and sit in the back seat of the car when leaving the arena.

- Another family feud will play out tonight at 8:00pm during the Emaan vs Yaqeen game.  Rizwan Malik of Yaqeen will see some familiar faces on the opposing bench as he faces Sadat Malik, Saleem Malik and Luqman Arshad of Emaan.

- After scoring the lone goal for his team Sahil Mohammed of Haya had a much more subdued celebration in comparison to his father Naveed Mohammed during the summer after Pakistan won the Champions Cricket Trophy .  The elder Mohammed reportedly drove around Brampton asking distraught India fans if they were okay while waving a Pakistan flag on his car.  

- There are rumours that Haya will finally have Waqar Khan in the lineup tonight against Shukr.  It will be interesting to see if Shukr follows the advice of defenseman and league pundit Samad Hamidi as he broke down how to shut Khan down.

- Aside from the family rivalry in tonights Emaan vs Yaqeen game, we have a friendly one too between Ahmad Mobin of Yaqeen and Ahmad Ibrahim of Emaan.  The two have a competition going into tonights game where if Yaqeen loses, Mobin will do 50 burpees and if Emaan loses, Ibrahim does 50 pull-ups.  If the game ends in a tie they both have to do 50 wind-sprints.

- We have a new goal-scoring leader going into tonight’s game and not one you would expect as defenseman Farrukh Khan of Yaqeen leads the league with with 4 goals.

- A few have asked why Haya's Waqar Khan is constantly referred to a "Boom Boom" and the story is legendary.  Khan is an avid cricket fan and can usually be heard talking about the latest cricket game after his game.  Well during the Spring Season, after leading his team to a Championship the team went out to eat together and celebrate at Galitio's in Mississauga.  As Emaan walked into the restaurant, who else but Shahid "Boom Boom" Afridi is sitting there eating with a group of friends.  Afridi was in town for an Islamic Relief event and happened to be finishing up his meal when Khan walked in.  In that moment greatness recognized greatness as Afridi quickly finished up his meal and his group left as Khan led Emaan in.  Regrettably a picture was not taken to commemorate the two icons crossing paths.

Fall Season - Week Two - September 22nd

- The season opened with a close one as grinded out a 1-0 win over Shukr only to be followed by two blowouts as Ikhlas ran Yaqeen out of the building by 6-2 score and Emaan routed Haya by a 5-1 score.

Three Stars of Week One:
1st Star: Umair Awan (Ikhlas) - 3 Goals, 1 Assist, GWG
2nd Star: Wakaas Khan (Ikhlas) - 1 Goal, 4 Assists
3rd Star: Farooq Sani (Emaan) - 2 Goals, 1 Assist

- Haya knew they were in for a challenge in Week One missing key players but being without Waqar Khan, Salman Khalid, Junaid Mohammad and Humza Hussain was a mountain too big but they rest of the team did well to only lose by a 5-1 score considering the skill and leadership they were missing.

-After Week 1, Wakaas Khan leads the scoring leader with a big 5 point performance against Yaqeen. After his game he was driving around Cambridge proclaiming he is their King, tormenting his car pool mates (Umair Awan, Atif Mian and Sajid Khan).

- Shukr may have lost in week one but the team is clearly shaping up to be filled with stories of young players who are lining up with their ball hockey heroes.  During the draft it was Samad Hamidi who was shocked that Nauman Abbasi slipped to the end of the first round and is now getting to play on the same team.  After Week One, Emaad Khan was getting to know his new teammates and was telling a story about an Imam who was wrongfully tied to a controversy during the recovery efforts in Texas only to learn that he was speaking of his line mate, Ibrahim Hindy.  

- After Week 1, Wakaas Khan leads the league in scoring, we are all used to a Khan being up there - just that it’s always Waqar Khan.  A player from Haya commented that we seem to be entering the “Upside Down” world so see Wakaas putting up a five-point night.

-Yaqeen gave up 6 goals against Ikhlas in their opener - more than how many shots they generated against their opponent (5).

- Back to Waqar Khan, there were rumours that after Samad Hamidi broke down how to contain Khan in the Week 1 preview, he wanted to skip the game to try and work in new elements to his skill set.

- Rookie goaltender, Fahad Mohammed got a shutout in his first I-slam Hockey game.  He only faced eight shots but did well to turn them all away.

- Haya is being hit hard early this season as there are rumblings that Humza Hussain is done for the season as he sustained a back injury prior to the draft that is not healing. 

- We only have Week 1 in the books but observers are circling October 13th in their calendar (Friday the 13th no less) as it will feature Haya vs Ikhlas.  A match-up that was referred to as Cambridge One vs Cambridge Two a few seasons ago.

Fall Season - Week One - September 15th

- Fall Season kicks off this Week!  Emaan won the Championship last season and the bulk of their roster was reunited on Haya this season so big things are expected there.

- Watching the Draft, many observers had the same feedback: How many times did Samad Hamidi mention Nauman Abassi?  Now that they are teammates it will be interesting to see Hamidi be on the same team as clearly one of his favourite players.

- Will Salman Alvi go on streaking?  After lifting the Alvi curse last season, teams are no longer scared in drafting Salman. Does he now start a winning streak?

- Tahir Maarouf is described to be a Yousuf Solimon type of player (on that note we wish Drake a speedy recovery and hope to see him next season).  Maarouf considers himself a Jose Bautista lookalike, perhaps explaining his constant consumption of Booster Juice.

- Did you see Ahmad Mobin flip that tire? He seems to be more motivated this year to reclaim a championship after losing in the finals.

- Salman Khalid and "Boom Boom” Waqar Khan are expected to miss games this season.  In the long run will this hurt their team’s playoff chances as only Top 5 out of the 6 make it.

- Two goalies make their league debuts this week: Ahmed Jamal (Ikhlas) and Fahad Mohammed (Sabr).

- Why do Mehmed Rizvanovic and Aazar Zafar always end up on the same team?

- Trade rumours between Emaan and Yaqeen?  Everyone assumes that Emaan want Rizwan Malik, Yaqeen want Idris Kalair.  Anything can happen but trades can be difficult to pull off.

- Samad “Cherry” Hamidi knows how to stop Waqar Khan and shared the secret in his Weekly Preview, now that teams know how to shut him down - how will Khan react this week?  Rumours are that he is concerned to the point of considering sitting out this week to adjust his game.

- Reminder for players that a Minimum of Three games played in order to qualify for the playoffs.

Spring Season - Week Thirteen - May 19th

- Then there was one, Emaan completed a sweep of Sabr to take the Spring Season Championship.

Three Stars of the Week:
1st: Umair Awan (Emaan) - 2 Goals, Game Winning Goal
2nd: Furqan Salam (Emaan) - 1 Goal, 2 Assists
3rd: Luqman Arshad (Sabr) - 1 Goal, 1 Assist

- Emaan built up a 2-0 lead at the half and with 10 minutes left in the game were up 4-0.  They let their foot off the gas and for a talented team like Sabr it was a big mistake as Sabr scored three quick goals to make it a 4-3 game.  Arif Bijabhai potted an empty netter with 1:23 left to seal the game and crown Emaan as Spring Champions.

- Emaan’s victory broke the well advertised curse for Salman Alvi who lifted his first Championship, Samad Hamidi and Yusuf Kapoor also won for the first time.  The Cambridge squad seems to be the place where players go to win their first title as Kashif "Coach K" Taqiuddin infamously won his first championship with the majority of this group a couple of seasons ago.

- Before the game the Regular Season Awards were handed out, here are your winners:
THE NASEEM BUTTAR GENERAL MANAGER’S AWARD:
- Taqwa GMs: Yasir Hussain & Saajid Bhayat

BEST DEFENSEMAN:
- Adil Patel - Taqwa

BEST GOALTENDER:
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

PLAYER'S CHOICE AWARD:
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

REGULAR SEASON MVP:
- Adil Patel - Taqwa

PLAYOFF MVP: * subject to change
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

- To sum it up, Yusuf Kapoor cleaned up winning Best Goalie, Lowest Goals Against, Players Choice and Playoff MVP.  This on top of winning his first Championship - a great night for the young goaltender.

- Here is your 2017 Spring Season Champions, Emaan