Three Stars of the Week:
1st Star: Ali Khwaja - 25 saves
2nd Star: Imran Lakhanpal - 1 Goal, 1 Assist, Game Winning Goal
1st Star: Ali Khwaja - 25 saves
2nd Star: Imran Lakhanpal - 1 Goal, 1 Assist, Game Winning Goal
3rd Star: Mohammad Hamoud - 1 Goal
- Emaan had to come out of the game last week feeling like a championship was not written for them. Ridha was missing Shaukat Khan and Emaan completely outplayed their opponent but were unable to get the winner past Ali Khwaja who stood on his head.
- Emaan had to come out of the game last week feeling like a championship was not written for them. Ridha was missing Shaukat Khan and Emaan completely outplayed their opponent but were unable to get the winner past Ali Khwaja who stood on his head.
- Sometimes it is the little mistakes that come back to haunt you, Emaan took a too many men penalty with 1:12 left to play, Ridha went to the power play and Imran Lakhanpal stepped forward as the hero, snapping in a rebound to give his team the win.
- Both teams have to focus on Game Two now, Emaan comes in needing to win in order to force Overtime. They have to be familiar with that scenario having escaped it themselves in the SemiFinals where they won Game One over Shukr only to lose Game Two and barely advance to the finals. Now Emaan has to come out strong against Ridha to force Overtime where anything can happen.
- Ridha is hoping for a repeat of some magic from years ago when Imran Lakhanpal and Ali Khwaja were teammates on Haya and won the Championship together. Together again and on the verge of a championship and in both that Haya and this Ridha teams both players were key contributors.
- You never know what rumours to believe but there are unconfirmed reports that Mohammad Hamoud and Hany Soliman may not play tonight for Emaan. We could say we will know for sure when the ball is dropped but the Soliman's are not one for timeliness and may run into the arena late like the last man entering the ring during a WWE Royal Rumble.
- Abdu Sharkawy was singing the praises of teammate Ahmad "Black Panther" Ibrahim after their Game One win. Ibrahim deserves the praise as he has put in the work to improve his game and fitness - an inspiration for others to follow regardless of whether you are playing hockey or not. Sharkawy may have gone too far in his praise, kissing Ibrahim on the cheek during their interview and then referring to themselves as the Arab Version of Twins. Perhaps not thinking through that this comparison made him the much weaker of the two.
- Before the Championship game we have a Mecca vs Medina All-Star game planned!
-The Mecca conference comes in as favourites as some top-end players from Medina dropped out of the game and that was before all of the weather alerts for May 4th. Medina had to even borrow some players from the other conference to field a team!
- Anyone who isn't hyped up for the finals should check out the video produced by Arif Khan of Haya. He was kind enough to put together something with the footage he took from Game One of the Finals!
Make sure to follow us and get your friends to follow us as well (this is another way you can help grow the league!):
