Fall Season - Week Nine - November 9th

- Haya opened the night with a 3-1 victory over their divisional rivals Ikhlas, Yaqeen completed the series sweep of Ihsan with a 3-5 win, a game featuring two teams fighting to make the playoffs resulted in a Shukr and Ridha 1-1 tie and Sabr capitalized on a fortunate bounce to defeat Taqwa 1-0.

Three Stars of The Week for November 2nd:

1st Star: Ali Khwaja - Sabr (21 Saves shutout)
2nd Star: Arssal Shahabuddin – Yaqeen (1 G and 2 A)
3rd Star: Maaz Haq – Yaqeen (3 A)

Here is an update to the Shutout Table: 

Goaltenders	Shutouts
Ali Khawja (Sabr)	2
Fahad Mohammad (Yaqeen)	1
Zak Bandisha (Shukr)	1
Mohammad Kasuji (Ihsan)	1

Yusuf Kapoor (Haya)

1

- On the subject of goal-tending, we caught up with Ikhals’ net minder Kaunain Saiyed (here). After listening to this interview please check out our latest podcast (here).

- As the regular season comes to an end the drive to make the playoffs intensifies as the three teams (Emaan, Ikhlas, Ridha) currently outside of the playoffs still have a chance to qualify. There are rumours circulating that for Emaan some of their top players are game-time decisions. Hopefully these rumours turn out to be false as we can confirm that they will be without the services of Emad Hussain who is currently in the Maldives attending a Yoga-Pilates Fusion retreat. 

- Emaan will get some reprieve, especially at the start of the game as Sabr will be assessed a two-minute administrative penalty for failing to submit a recap last week. Ironically, the last time this happened Emaan also benefited from Taqwa not submitting a recap. In that game they would go on to score on the power play and pick up a point (in the form of a draw). In retrospect that point is turning to be huge in the standings and so tonight’s power play might be the difference in whether or not Emaan makes it to the playoffs. 

Do you know this guy?

- It’s ok if you don’t remember him as he is yet to play a game for The Leafs all season. Although he has poor contract negotiation skills he does not joke around when it comes to safety and is wearing a visor. Last week during the Shukr and Ridha game we had yet another inadvertent high stick that was dangerously close to a player’s eye. First and foremost we would like to remind players to be more responsible with their sticks and we highly recommend everyone to invest in a visor.

- Speaking of William Nylander, the world’s biggest Senators fan, Samad Hamidi (see here) has been extensively following this topic. Being the I-Slam Hockey Insider, he has garnered support from peers in the media industry with both Daren Millard and Darren Dreger liking and/or replying to his tweets. Ikhlas’ GM, Harris Mallick has also recently took to social media suggesting The Leafs trade the disgruntled forward.

- On the topic of Ikhlas, it just seems that this franchise regardless of who gets drafted on it is cursed as they often find themselves near the bottom of the standings. Call it the Ikhlas Curse but this meme created a few seasons ago is still relevant today:


- Another team looking for a spark is Shukr. They currently are tied with Ihsan for the last playoff spot. Shukr tried to shake things up with acquiring players through waivers and trades. Also last week they shifted players around in the lineup to see if they can find the right fit for the team. Point and case was moving Sulmaan Azmat (the biggest Drake fan-boy) from his natural position as a forward to the blue line. He has welcomed this change and apparently has been singing his own version of this verse to his goaltender during stoppages of play: “Majoo do you love me? Look, the new me is really still the real me …”

- Back to Ikhlas, they are one of the teams fighting for a playoff spot. Although they have a bye tonight, they did receive some encouraging news: Tahir Marouf scored the game winner in a playoff game (to win the series) in another league he participates in during the week. Ikhlas’ is hoping he remains hot and can duplicate his success while wearing a green uniform.

- Another team fighting for a playoff spot is the young Malton kids of Ridha. At this point of the season they are hoping for any type of break. A team full of youth might perhaps be better to rely on some seasoned veterans. One player that comes to mind is Umer Buksh (Mr. 2 Goals in One Night). For those unaware he quickly rose to fame by outscoring all these players combined one week a few seasons back:
1. Amer Khawaja
2. Abdul-Wahab Mohammad
3. Basit Sheikh
4. Wajaahat Wasty
5. Mehmed Rizvanovic
6. Maaz Haq
7. Azim Siddique
8. Ahmed Ali
9. Taha Azhar
10. Ozair Naveed
11. Fahad Mohammad
12. Aazar Zafar
13. Imdad Ali
14. Faisal Mehboob
15. Tahir Maarouf
16. Wesam Issawi
17. Farhan Siddiqui
18. Samad Hamidi
19. Munaf Nathalia
20. Ibrahim Hindy
21. Rameez Siddiqi
22. Saqib Sheikh
23. Dawood Ciombar
24. Mohammed Hamoud
25. Kashif Taqiuddin
26. Nauman Abbasi
27. Khalid Mufti
28. Farhan Siddique
29. Humza Ali
30. Umar Muhammad
31. Emaad Siddiqui
32. Saad Khan
33. Arslan Mian
34. Jazib Khan
35. Sulmaan Azmat
36. Zuhair Fancy
37. Umair Khan
38. Farrukh Khan
39. Farzan Alam
40. Mussadiq Ali Mirza
41. Ahmad Mobin
42. Emad Hussain
43. Usamah Rao
44. Rizwan Malik
45. Shoaib Bhatti
46. Walied Soliman
47. Kamran Siddiqui
48. Sajid Khan
49. A K
50. Fowad Alvi
51. Abdu Sharkawy
52. Umair Awan
53. Wakaas Khan
54. Hany Soliman
55. Ebad Khan
56. Ahmed Jamal
57. Rayhan Malik
58. Hannan Ghafoor
59. Atif Mian
60. Adnan Hashmi
61.Saleem Malik
62. Idris Kalair
63. Farooq Sani
64. Ahmad Ibrahim
65. Ali Valiji
66. Saajid Bhayat
67. Nazeer Gafoor
68. Shahid Ibrahim
69. Yusuf Kapoor
70. Hassan Valiji
71. Jaudat Wasty
72. Luqman Arshad
73. Sadat Malik
74. Imran Choudhry
75. Asim Khan
76. Ibrahim Khan
77. Rehan Lakhani
78. Nadeem Faqiri
79. Waqar Khan
80. Umair Ashraf
81. Salman Khalid
82. Salman Alvi
83. Mustafa Shahbaz
84. Kaunain Saiyed
85. Jawad Majeed
86. Sahil Mohammad
87. Hamza Amin
88. Furqan Salam
- Umer Buskh historical night was a byproduct of playing a long side Maaz Haq.  Some of Haq's current teammates on Yaqeen are benefiting from the passes he makes this season.

- One more note about Maaz Haq; last week he got a haircut which was noted by observes as giving the perception of him being faster on the floor

- Circling back to Ikhlas, Abdul-Wahab Mohammad said to close of the regular season you guys will see less of ‘Mr. Nice Guy Wahab’ and more of ‘Venom-Wahab’. It has been reported that during his off week he has had an insatiable appetite for Fish Pakoras

- Speaking about Fish Pakoras, Arif Bijabhai’s team, Yaqeen hurdled over Taqwa and moved into second place in the overall standings. The significance of finishing first and second overall is that those teams get a bye to the semifinals.

- Shukr continues to struggle with their league worst offense, losing Kashif Taqiuddin hurts but he moved behind the bench but in his last two games as a Coach he has been ineffective and unable to organize his team to do much.

- There are no divisional games on the schedule tonight but every game has playoff implications.  Haya has already clinched and are rolling to an undefeated season.  Ikhlas is on a bye this week but will be watching closely as they still have a chance to make the post-season but need to win their final two games and have to get some help with Shukr and/or Ihsan losing their last three games.

Updated Divisional Standings after Week Eight:

Medina:

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Yaqeen	7	5	1	1	11	26	13	13
2	Ihsan	7	2	3	2	6	20	25	-5
3	Emaan	7	1	3	3	5	17	23	-6

  

Mecca:

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Haya	8	5	0	3	13	20	11	9
2	Sabr	8	3	3	2	8	14	16	-2
3	Ikhlas	8	0	5	3	3	16	23	-7

  

Jerusalem:

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Taqwa	7	4	1	2	10	19	14	5
2	Shukr	7	2	3	2	6	10	12	-2
3	Ridha	7	1	4	2	4	16	21	-5

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!):
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