Three Stars of Week Three:
1st Star: Kaunain Saiyed (Haya) - 26 saves on 27 shots
2nd Star: Maaz Haq (Sabr) - Two Goals, One Assist
3rd Star: Ahmad Mobin (Yaqeen) - 23 saves on 23 shots
- It will be interesting to see if the one week layoff for all teams have any impact, some teams were mandating that players increase their workouts to ensure no one comes back in worse shape.
- Bizarre ending/Not something you see every day? With the score 4-0, Ikhals GM Wakaas Khan pulled his goaltender, Ahmed Jamal with under 2 minutes to go! It is hard to speculate what the rationale was: was Khan trying to break Sabr’s shutout streak? Was Khan trying to give his forward confidence after only managing one goal in the past two games? Whatever the reason it backfired allowing rookie Maaz Haq to complete pick up his second goal of the game with an empty netter. A rough couple of games for Ikhlas as they demolished Yaqeen to open the season only to be roughed up in their past two games.
- Over the break there were reports that Haya sent some of their key players down to Washington DC to recruit some additional talent to add to their roster after finding themselves near the bottom of the standings. The player they went looking for? Ahmed Hathout...so you know Haya is getting antsy when they are looking to the Dark Knight for assistance (Editors Note: when Hathout was a mainstay in the league he gave himself the nickname of Batman or Dark Knight as a method to motivate his teammates). This delicate negotiation was managed by Waqar Khan and Furqan Salam but it is unlikely that they will have been able to get Hathout to return to the league this season.
- Give the people what they want! Unfortunately Samad Hamidi has been sick the past few weeks and has not been able to post any video previews. The league is considering pumping him full of some Cold FX and roll him in front of a camera. His analysis on Waqar Khan was spot on as Shukr used it to keep Khan off the scoresheet.
- Give the people what they want! Unfortunately Samad Hamidi has been sick the past few weeks and has not been able to post any video previews. The league is considering pumping him full of some Cold FX and roll him in front of a camera. His analysis on Waqar Khan was spot on as Shukr used it to keep Khan off the scoresheet.
- Haya failed to get their recap in before the Tuesday deadline which means GM Salman Khalid will serve a 2-minute penalty tonight. Unfortunately there was miscommunication between the Haya members as to who would do the recap but Salman Khalid has taken a bullet for his team and has accepted full responsibility. This is the second team to face this punishment as Emaan took a penalty for this in Week Two with GM Luqman Arshad sitting to start the game. So a reminder to all teams to make sure to not handcuff your team by missing out on the game recap!
- Word out of the Sabr locker room is that they feel Haya will be their toughest competition this season. The teams meet next Friday, October 20th. A game some members of Sabr have already dubbed “The New Generation” (Maaz Haq) against “The Present Guard” (Waqar Khan).
- During the pregame speech between Haya and Shukr it was noted that a few Haya players took a knee when Kashif "Coach K" Taqiuddin started to speak. It was not clear if this was a political statement by Haya players or some poorly timed stretching.
- It was good to see Umair Ashraf back in Week Three after he injured his eye in a collision with Yaqeen Goalie Ahmad Mobin. Ashraf came back with the full cage - a wise choice to protect his face and a breath of relief to his agent as there was concern that Ashraf may have jeopardized his career as a beard model.
- In other injury news, Sulmaan Azmat of Yaqeen got clipped with a high stick and was bleeding from the lip. The injury is not serious but he was heard being lectured after the game by his brother Furhan Azmat that he should wear face protection if Sulmaan is serious about his career as an Instagram Model.
- Haya got many of their star players back for Week Three and the result was a win as Junaid Mohammad, Waqar Khan and Salman Khalid all made their debut. It had been a rough start for Haya this season with short benches becoming an all-too frequent appearance so hopefully they will be able to field a full team going forward. Mohammad is notorious for having to miss games due to his work schedule so Haya has to hope that he doesn't miss too many more as they have a lot of work to do to climb out of last place.
- Really a 0-0 tie? How rarely does this happen? Ahmad Mobin (Yaqeen) and Ahmad Ibrahim (Emaan) settle their challenge with 25 burpees each. What will be on the line next time when the two teams meet?
- Observers have been a bit surprised that Shukr has struggled to start the season. The team was drafted with some of the great ball hockey minds the league has seen with Ibrahim Hindy and Coach K and Samad Hamidi in there too. With only one win in their first three games expect to see this team start to pull it together and
- Here is a true story: Faisal Mehboob carries around an envelope full of toonies which is his shisha spending money for the week. Perhaps spin it to say that before every game he has a lucky toonie (similar to how the loonie was buried in the ice for Team Canada’s games)?
- Haya got many of their star players back for Week Three and the result was a win as Junaid Mohammad, Waqar Khan and Salman Khalid all made their debut. It had been a rough start for Haya this season with short benches becoming an all-too frequent appearance so hopefully they will be able to field a full team going forward. Mohammad is notorious for having to miss games due to his work schedule so Haya has to hope that he doesn't miss too many more as they have a lot of work to do to climb out of last place.
- Really a 0-0 tie? How rarely does this happen? Ahmad Mobin (Yaqeen) and Ahmad Ibrahim (Emaan) settle their challenge with 25 burpees each. What will be on the line next time when the two teams meet?
- Observers have been a bit surprised that Shukr has struggled to start the season. The team was drafted with some of the great ball hockey minds the league has seen with Ibrahim Hindy and Coach K and Samad Hamidi in there too. With only one win in their first three games expect to see this team start to pull it together and
- Here is a true story: Faisal Mehboob carries around an envelope full of toonies which is his shisha spending money for the week. Perhaps spin it to say that before every game he has a lucky toonie (similar to how the loonie was buried in the ice for Team Canada’s games)?
- The feature game for Week Four will be Haya vs Ikhlas, Cambrige A vs Cambridge B, Khan vs Khan. Years ago this game was a battle for first place, this season both teams have gotten off to poor starts and are at the bottom of the table. That aside expect a great deal of intensity in this one and perhaps some fans showing up to support their respective sides. Wakaas Khan is tied for the league lead in scoring, Waqar Khan has no points so far this season so a bizarre twist from what has happened in past seasons. Furqan Salam leads Haya with three of the teams four goals scored this season and the pressure is on him to continue to carry the teams offense until some of their other erstwhile stars finally get going.
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