1st Star: Hany Soliman (Emaan) - 2 goals in the shootout (see our Instagram for clips)
2nd Star: Ali Khwaja (Ridha) - Shutout win
3rd Star: Black Panther (Ridha) - 1 Goal, Game winning goal
- Some may call it bitter grapes, but Faisal Mehboob (Sabr) has predicted that Ridha’s offense will dry up when they need it the most play during the finals. Ridha had enough to eliminate Sabr and Emaan isn't exactly a high scoring team so this prediction seems misplaced but during the last game of the regular season, Ahmad "Black Panther" Ibrahim did the Wakanda salute against Sabr’s backup goaltender after scoring which ruffled some feathers.
- One observer expects fireworks in the finals, noting that there are a high number of hot-blooded Arabs in the game. Many remember the infamous "Arab Spring" team from a few seasons ago that imploded and those were teammates - lets hope for less of that when they are opponents.
- Reported Farrukh Khan (Ridha) is the guy who keeps his team pumped up in the Ridha WhatsApp group
- Some considered the Emaan draft strategy flawed to bring back so many familiar faces from their 2016 Ihsan championship team, but those pundits are watching the finals from the stands now so Emaan can have the last laugh there.
- Ridha fans felt that their dominant win over Sabr showed that the gamesmanship from Sabr during the regular season finale to have Ibad Khan dress as a forward and put Hammad Khan in net backfired and motivated them to step it up when the teams met.
- Kaunain Saiyed (Emaan) this is your time to shine! Not sure why he was the last goaltender picked in the draft. This was the second straight season he was clutch in the semi-finals in the shootout to send his team to the finals and he has a chance to make it back to back championships. If he continues to win, it is safe to say he won’t be the last goaltender picked in future drafts.
- Ridha fans felt that their dominant win over Sabr showed that the gamesmanship from Sabr during the regular season finale to have Ibad Khan dress as a forward and put Hammad Khan in net backfired and motivated them to step it up when the teams met.
- Kaunain Saiyed (Emaan) this is your time to shine! Not sure why he was the last goaltender picked in the draft. This was the second straight season he was clutch in the semi-finals in the shootout to send his team to the finals and he has a chance to make it back to back championships. If he continues to win, it is safe to say he won’t be the last goaltender picked in future drafts.
- Shukr had to feel burned after their shootout loss to Emaan in the Semis, Game One was Osama Soliman scoring a hat-trick where it seemed like Shukr was trying to set him up - turnovers that ended up in the back of the net. Game Two they played much better and earned the win, Overtime solved nothing although they had some chances to win it only to have Hany Soliman score twice in the penalty shootout to have Emaan advance.
- The format of the Finals will mirror that of the Semi-Finals, best of two and if the teams split the points after both games then it goes to sudden death overtime and then a penalty shootout.
- The format of the Finals will mirror that of the Semi-Finals, best of two and if the teams split the points after both games then it goes to sudden death overtime and then a penalty shootout.
- Emaan superpest Rayhan Malik will surely attempt to get under the skin of some of Ridha's star players. Ridha needs key players like Shaukat Khan and Mohammad Bilal to ignore Malik, perhaps turning to teammate Arif Bijabhai for advice who found a way to ignore Malik and succeed under the pressure.
- It was good to see Abdu Sharkawy play last week, we assume he medically cleared himself through the nagging injuries he has picked up these playoffs. Ridha will need him to give his standard strong effort at both ends of the arena to succeed in the finals.
- It felt like Waqar Khan was on a Lebron James type of run for making it to the finals each season - that run ended as top ranked Sabr crashed out against Ridha. The team was missing Naeim Malik on the blue line and was unable to cover that gap up which led to their undoing.
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