Fall Season - Week Twelve - December 15th

- Frantic Friday saw Shukr shutout Yaqeen 4-0; Haya narrowly escaping Emaan 2-1 (shootout), and Shukr taking out the top seed 1-0

Three Stars of Wild-Card/Semi-Finals:
1st Star: Khalid Mufti (Shukr)- 13 saves against & shutout Sabr
2nd Star: Khalid Mufti (Shukr)- 12 saves & shutout against Yaqeen
3rd Star: Ibrahim Hindy (Shukr)- 2 Goals, 1 Assist against Yaqeen

Format of the Finals: This is a two-game series. The team that loses Game #1 (tonight), must win Game #2 (next week) to force a 5-minute sudden death over-time (5v5). If after the over-time the score is tied there will be a shootout (3 shooters aside). If still tied the shootout will enter sudden death. In case it is not clear if the team loses in Game # 1 but ties in Game # 2, then the team that won the first game will be crowned as the champs. In the even Game#1 ends in a tie (there will be no OT or shootouts), then the winner of Game #2 will win the championship.

Season Reflections - Yaqeen: If Yaqeen managed to get the first goal against your team then you were in for a long night. They would battle hard and grind out for wins or ties. This group did well to make the playoffs and put up resistance against teams. Their major flaw was they could never could get their offense going. Despite this they fought tooth and nail to the end.

Season Reflections - Emaan: You got to feel for the boys in Orange after losing in a shootout to Haya. After a solid regular season where they made noise beating the top teams enroute to finishing the regular season in 2nd place the expectations were high. Who knows how different last week could have been for them if Idrees Deen was able to suit up?

Season Reflections - Sabr: An incredible regular season with new blood we haven’t seen before. The new players served notice that there is some game outside the better-known cliques. There were some great individual performance that is reflective in the finalist for the major awards (see below).

Anonymous Yaqeen Player: “We had played Shukr tough all year and felt we could have beaten them. I guess it wasn’t meant to be as Hindy took a shot, missed the net horribly, hit the glass, bounced in front of the net but had some intense Arabic Tajweed on it and backed spun into the net. After that there was nothing left to do but think about your training in the offseason for the winter iteration of I-slam Hockey.”

Salman Alvi goes streaking? Last season Salman Alvi finally broke the curse by capturing the I-Slam Cup in Spring 2017. Now after paying his dues, he has the opportunity to build his streak to two consecutive championships.

Furqan Salam (Haya) and Mohammed Hamoud (Shukr) were traded for each other before Game One of the regular season. It was a traded facilitated by Haya to get Salam united with Waqar Khan. So we all know what is on Hamoud’s mind.

- Apparently not everyone on Shukr was confident that they would win both games last week, after their defeat of Sabr, Farhan Siddiqui mentioned that he had already bought tickets for the opening night showing of the new Star Wars movie and was looking for someone to give them to.  In a strategic move he apparently was offering them free to Haya players hoping to get some of them to bite and miss Game One.  

- Haya escaped the SemiFinals by the narrowest of margins over Emaan.  Haya got their lead when Furqan Salam managed to get a breakaway which he missed as Yusuf Kapoor made a spectacular save but Emaan defenders did not get back allowing Salam to grab his rebound and score.  Salam gave some words of encouragement to Kapoor after the goal - the two having played together in the Spring season and winning a championship.  From there Kapoor denied multiple Haya chances to keep his team in it and Emaan GM Luqman Arshad saved his team in the final minutes with some great defensive play and scoring the equalizer with 45 seconds left.  Overtime solved nothing and it was Nadeem Faqiri of Haya who was the only shooter able to score as he put Haya into the finals.  Watch the shootout highlights here.

- Sabr had their usual postgame routine of heading over to Moods for Shisha disrupted when Shukr players arrived early and grabbed the larger open table.  A Sabr player commented, "First they took the win and now they are rubbing it in by taking our table"

- Sabr looked a bit nervous going into their SemiFinal game, their body language showing a tenseness not seen all season and facing a veteran Shukr team it was a recipe for an upset.  The braintrust of Shukr (Kashif "Coach K" Taqiuddin and Ibrahim Hindy) came up with a plan to neutralize Sabr's league best offense and were able to implement it - grinding out a 1-0 win.  

- Going into the finals there will be a lot of attention on the stars to get things done, Shukr boasts a strong top line and has the veteran experience across the board to feel like they are in the drivers seat.  Haya feels that their approach to roll all lines during the regular season will pay dividends as everyone has confidence to contribute.

- There are questions about Waqar Khan as he seems to have lost a step since his summer wedding; one Shukr player joked that it seems as though the price of marrying into the Salam family was for Khan to transfer some of his power and skill to now brother-in-law Furqan Salam who led the league in goals scored.  Others  have wondered if Samad Hamidi's analysis of how to shut Khan down has been the difference.  No matter what the story is, Khan needs to pick things up if he wants to help Haya win the championship.

Here are your finalist for the major I-Slam Hockey Awards (in alphabetical order by last name):
Regular Season MVP (NHL equivalent: Hart Trophy):

- Humza Ali (Shukr)

- Maaz Haq (Sabr)

- Yusuf Kapoor (Emaan)

Top Goaltender (NHL equivalent: Vezina Trophy):
- Yusuf Kapoor (Emaan)
- Fahad Mohammad (Sabr)
- Khalid Mufti (Shukr)

Best Defense Man (NHL equivalent: James Norris Memorial Trophy):

- Taha Azhar (Sabr)

- Nazeer Gafoor (Emaan)

- Sajid Khan (Ikhlas)

- Junaid Mohammed (Haya)

Top Rookie (selected as the most proficient still within his first Three seasons of I-Slam Hockey):

- Dawood Ciombor (Shukr)
- Maaz Haq (Sabr)
- Fahad Mohammad (Sabr)

Naseem Buttar Best GM Award:
- Salman Khalid (Haya)
- Abdul-Wahab Mohammad (Sabr)

As the season draws to an end we would like to recognize the volunteers who pitched in to make the league enjoyable for all the players:
1. Yusuf Kapoor
2. Kunain Saiyed
3. Zaid Majoo
4. Samad Hamidi
5. Emad Hussain
6. Farzan Alam
7. Wajaahat Wasty
8. Saqib Sheikh
9. Basit Sheikh
10. Jalani Morgan
11. Rehan Lakhani

**URGENT**
I-Slam Hockey at RIS: If you would like to help out with this initiative, please get a hold of Ahmad Ibrahim ASAP. Whatever capacity you can assist we will gladly appreciate the help even if it is just spreading the word to your friends to come visit the booth!

Next Season:
- Registration for the upcoming winter season is already open. See here for more details (spots are to filling up fast. I would advise goalies to register as soon as possible)

Make sure to follow us and get your friends to follow us as well (this is another way you can help grow the league!):

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