Fall Season - Week Seven - October 26th

- Haya opened the night with a 2-0 win over Emaan, Taqwa controlled Shukr and won 3-1, Ihsan stole a late win from Ikhlas 4-3 and Ridha won their first game as they defeated Sabr 2-1.

Three Stars of the Week for October 12:
1st Star: Yusuf Ingar - Ridha (1 Goal, 1 Assist, GWG)
2nd Star: Huzaifa Panchbhaya - Taqwa (1 Goal, 1 Assist)
3rd Star: Arif Khan – Ikhlas (1 Goal, 2 Assists)

- Emaan had their undefeated streak stopped at two games as they started flat against Haya in Week Six and didn't get much going.  Some joked that the Pumpkin Spice in the water bottles for Orange had lost their magic.  Nonetheless Emaan faces Ridha this week in a game where both teams are battling to get back into the playoff picture so expect them to come out hard.

- Shukr was dominated by Taqwa in a big divisional game last week but the bright spot for them was the play of Yousuf Chatha whose hustle gave them a chance and his hard work earned him his first goal of the season.  

- Ikhlas had an eventful week with their roster, due to injuries they were forced to replace Nadir Hirji, Ikhlas nominated Madni Danial as the replacement but he was immediately scooped off waivers by Ridha who lost Haris Hyder as compensation.  Ikhlas then made a trade where they sent Farrukh Khan and newly acquired Haris Hyder to Shukr for Saajid Bhayat and Aamir Hanif.  To complete the roster turmoil, Ikhlas learned that Hani Soliman was lost for the season and chose Tahir Maroof as the replacement - Maroof passed waivers and joins Ikhlas tonight.

- Ridha picked up their first win of the season with a late winner off the stick of Yusuf Ingar - a turnabout from past games where they were the one losing the lead in the final minutes.

- Some observers questioned the approach of Shukr's braintrust, they have the worst offense in the league right now but went all-in to acquire Farrukh Khan, a strong physical defenseman but not a player that will start lighting the lamp for the team.  

- Here are your updated Divisional Standings after Week Six Games:

Medina:

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Yaqeen	5	3	1	1	7	19	9	10
2	Ihsan	5	2	1	2	6	16	16	0
3	Emaan	6	1	3	2	4	13	19	-6

  

Mecca:

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Haya	6	3	0	3	9	13	9	4
2	Sabr	7	2	3	2	6	13	16	-3
3	Ikhlas	6	0	4	2	2	13	18	-5

  

Jerusalem:

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Taqwa	5	4	0	1	9	17	11	6
2	Shukr	5	2	2	1	5	8	9	-1
3	Ridha	5	1	4	0	2	11	16	-5

- Some interesting races in play as teams jostle to win their division to grab a top seed going into the playoffs.   

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

- If you somehow missed it, here are some of the Video clips the league has put up to start the season:

- Live Draft

- Post-Draft Analysis
- Draft Behind the Scenes

- Listen in on our First League Podcast! Belal Hafeez of Shukr drops in with some health and fitness tips.

- Listen in on Podcast Two featuring Abdu Sharkawy and Ahmad "Black Panther" Ibrahim who weigh in on a number of topics

Make sure to follow us and get your friends to follow us as well (this is another way you can help grow the league!):
Facebook: I-Slam Hockey
Twitter: iSlamHockey
Instagram: IslamHockeyCanada
Youtube: IslamBallHockey

Fall Season - Week Six - October 19th

- Yaqeen opened the night with a 7-2 thumping of Ihsan, Taqwa and Emaan ended in a 3-3 tie, Haya grinded out a 2-1 win over Sabr in the first leg of their doubleheader, Shukr stole their win over Ikhlas with a last minute winner and the second game of the night between Sabr and Haya ended in a 2-2 tie.

Three Stars of the Week for October 12:
1st Star: Saleem Malik - Yaqeen (3 Goals and 1 Assist)
2nd Star: Farooq Sani - Yaqeen (3 Goals)
3rd Star: Arssal Shahabuddin – Yaqeen ( 3 Assists)

- Ridha has had a tough season thus far they they are hoping that Abdul Manjra can bring some winning mojo this Friday after his team won the cricket championship for the league he plays in.  Ridha needs some type of boost because while they have lost all four games this season, two have been by a goal and the other two by two goals - meaning they have been competitive and had a chance in each of their games but have not been able to pull it together for a full game.  If they figure it out

- Haya and Sabr met for the only double header of the season and Haya came out on top with a win and a tie from their efforts.  They got an emotional boost with the return of Waqar Khan who took a high stick the week before.  Khan was sporting a nasty cut above his eye and put on a visor to protect himself - a wise choice that hopefully other players will follow.

- Sabr has struggled of late which coincides with the absence of star Shaukat Khan who is dealing with a lower body injury.  Sabr did manage to pull out a tie thanks to some tight defensive play highlighted by Hannan Ghafoor who put it all on the line diving on a loose ball in the final minutes and enduring Haya players trying to dig it out from under him.

- Taqwa became the first team this season to not submit a recap for their game - the home team is responsible for providing the game recap otherwise they are assessed a 2-minute penalty to start their next game.  Taqwa paid the price for this as Emaan scored on the resulting powerplay and took an early lead in their game.  The Taqwa leadership team seemed to learn their lesson as their recap was the first one received after Week Five.

- Shukr (among a few teams last week) ran into penalty problems and by the end of the game only had two defensemen left to finish the game.   Kashif "Coach K" Taqiuddin played heavy minutes down the stretch but seemed to aggravate his knee.  Prior to the game Taqiuddin advised his teammates that his legs were sore from a tough workout the day before.  No word if it was the workout or during the game where he picked up an injury but Shukr will hope that they will not lose one of their defensemen from the lineup for an extended period of time.

- Last week saw the debut of the Wolverine, Waqar Khan's potential new nickname after making a quick return from the injury noted earlier.  Last week he faced off against the Ahmad "Black Panther" Ibrahim who has struggled to perform after a stellar Spring Season.  With his numbers plummeting, one wonders if the Black Panther will lobby the government to legalize vibranium

- We are at about the halfway point of the season and there are two undefeated teams with Taqwa and Haya having yet to taste defeat.

- On the flipside we have two teams that have yet to win a game as Ikhlas and Ridha are both still looking for their first win.  Some would suggest Ridha is facing a championship curse having won in the Spring but really both teams have been competitive in all of their games and in fact letting wins slip away in the final minutes of games.

- A big week for the Jerusalem Division as undefeated Taqwa will face off against second place Shukr.  Taqwa has been on a roll all season while Shukr looks great on paper but has struggled to score as they have the lowest scoring offense in the league and have been shutout in two of their four games.

Here are your updated Divisional Standings after Week Five:

Medina:

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Yaqeen	5	3	1	1	7	19	9	10
2	Ihsan	4	1	1	2	4	12	13	-1
3	Emaan	5	1	2	2	4	13	17	-4

  

Mecca:

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Haya	5	2	0	3	7	11	9	2
2	Sabr	6	2	2	2	6	12	14	-2
3	Ikhlas	5	0	3	2	2	10	14	-3

  

Jerusalem:

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Taqwa	4	3	0	1	7	11	7	4
2	Shukr	4	2	1	1	5	7	6	1
3	Ridha	4	0	4	0	0	9	15	-6

- Some interesting races in play as teams jostle to win their division to grab a top seed going into the playoffs.   

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

- If you somehow missed it, here are some of the Video clips the league has put up to start the season:

- Live Draft

- Post-Draft Analysis
- Draft Behind the Scenes

- Listen in on our First League Podcast! Belal Hafeez of Shukr drops in with some health and fitness tips.

- Listen in on Podcast Two featuring Abdu Sharkawy and Ahmad "Black Panther" Ibrahim who weigh in on a number of topics

Make sure to follow us and get your friends to follow us as well (this is another way you can help grow the league!):
Facebook: I-Slam Hockey
Twitter: iSlamHockey
Instagram: IslamHockeyCanada
Youtube: IslamBallHockey