Three Stars of the Week for January 25th:
1st Star: Imran Lakhanpal (Ihsan): 2 Goals
2nd Star: Maaz Haq (Haya): 1 Goal, GWG
3rd Star: Huzaifah Panchbhaya (Ridha): 2 Goals
- Week Four sees the schedule move from Divisional Games to cross-Divisional, so some interesting games are up as teams get a break from divisional rivalries.
Here are the Divisional Standings after Week Three:
Mecca Division
| RANK | TEAM | GP | WINS | LOSSES | TIES | POINTS | GF | GA | GD |
| 1 | Haya | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | Ridha | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| 3 | Sabr | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| 4 | Ikhlas | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9 | -4 |
* 4th place in the Division does not make the playoffs
Medina Division
RANK
| TEAM |
GP
|
WINS
|
LOSSES
|
TIES
|
POINTS
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
| 1 | Ihsan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 5 |
| 2 | Yaqeen | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 2 |
| 3 | Shukr | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -3 |
| 4 | Emaan | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 10 | -4 |
* 4th place in the Division does not make the playoffs
- Early in the week, Sabr and Ridha made the first post-draft trade of the season with Fahad Panchbhaya going to Ridha in exchange for Abdur-Rahman Buttar. For Ridha the deal gives them another scoring forward but weakens their already thin defence. For Sabr they add another defensemen when scoring has actually been their challenge.
- Some pundits wondered why Sabr (or even Ridha for that matter) would make this trade, for Ridha their big need was on D but knowing that they traded for their friend explains things a bit. For Sabr it seems strange because they are already playing a few defensemen out of position as forwards. With that said outside of their top line no one has a point this season except for Ahmad Ibrahim so something needs to change quickly, if anything is certain for Sabr it is that their GMs are not afraid to shake things up if it isn't working.
- Ihsan was missing some key players going into their game against Yaqeen in a battle for 1st place in the Medina division but Imran Lakhanpal stepped up and notched two goals and was a big offensive threat all game to give Ihsan the boost they needed to get the win.
- The trade between Ridha and Sabr has started conversations among other GMs about moving pieces. We may start to see other trades to follow as GMs look to fine tune teams
- Emaan has been plagued by a rough start to this season, they attribute this to the curse of the Orange jersey, something that Ikhlas can probably empathize with seeing as how anyone playing in Green has struggled
- After watching the Ridha vs Sabr game last week and then seeing the trade between the teams, an observer joked that Ridha probably liked Fahad Panchbhaya's playmaking ability as he feathered a beauty of a pass which set up Ridha's third goal - too bad he was still playing for Sabr at the time. No word if that error led to his quick trade from Sabr
- Emaan may be in the market to make a deal as Naeem Akhtar and Huzaifa Manjra are not able to find the right chemistry for this squad and if they go winless in Week Four then look for a deal
- Sabr struggling with three ties in three games (so winless this season) so one deal made to shake things up, more perhaps on the horizon
- Ridha may be without Tariq Baksh tonight as his usual ride is his cousin Ahmad Mobin who plays goal for Emaan has said he won't ride-share since they face each other tonight.
- Shukr played it cautious with Sufyan Shaikh last week who felt he was ready to make his season debut but they wanted to give him another week to recover.
- Emaan took a similar approach with Abdul-Wahab Mohammad who played limited minutes last week as he eases himself back into the rotation coming off an injury
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 along with our Podcasts:
- Pre-Draft GM Interviews
- If you somehow missed it, here are some of the video clips the league has put up to start the season along with our Podcasts:
- Pre-Draft GM Interviews
- 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
- 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
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