Week Eleven - December 18th - Playoffs

- The final week of the regular season gave us some highlights and cleared up the final playoff picture.

• Shukr had already clinched first but their win last week saw them finish the regular season undefeated.  An impressive accomplishment for them to enjoy as they now get a first round bye for the playoffs.
• Ikhlas lost their game to Ihsan but still managed to cling onto second place by virtue of Haya losing, they get a first round bye where they will need to figure out what is happening for this talented team that has lost their last three games.
• Haya lost to Shukr so lost their chance to jump into second place with the recent struggles from Ikhlas, the benefit of the tie-breaker saw them hold onto third place and gets them the match-up they wanted against Sabr
• Emaan finished the season strong with a three game winning streak but it wasn’t enough to overcome their poor start to the season and by virtue of the tie breaker they end in fourth.
• Ihsan ended the season with a gritty win over Ikhlas to ensure they didn’t risk dropping into last.
• Sabr suffered a 5-0 loss but considering they had only one sub the players that did show up demonstrated a lot of heart to keep this game as close as they did.

- Ikhlas has struggled mightily down the stretch and almost suffered a catastrophic loss as near the end of their finale against Ihsan, had Waqar Khan go awkwardly into the net and take a knock to his knee.  Khan stayed down for a while with both teams showing concern for his status as he seemed in significant pain.  After a quick check from one of the doctors watching he was helped off the floor and after missing a few shifts came out for the final minute with his team desperate to break their losing streak.  Khan is admired as a tenacious player by all, but his team may have been better served letting him sit the rest of the game and avoid a more serious injury.

- Sabr has faced many obstacles this season with injuries and absences and it happened again in their finale as they had only one sub for their game but despite this put up a great effort with Ahmad Hathout never stepping off the floor.  Zaid Majoo made some great saves in the first half to keep it a 1-0 game.

- Shukr has had a great season, they are solid across their lineup and have benefited from some great seasons from key players, once such breakout season was from Atif Mian.  Mian has long been viewed as a raw talent and this season he put together a great season.  He finished third in scoring this season and was just three points away from winning the scoring title.  His blend of speed and agility combined with a growing touch around the net has seen him blossom into a constant scoring threat.

- Ahmad Hathout won the scoring title despite being shutout against Emaan, breaking his scoring streak.  He had many chances but was shut down each time by Sadiq Rehman who was more than equal to the task.  Hathout bested rival Waqar Khan who fell just a point behind Hathout.

- Ihsan goes into their playoff game hoping to have a full lineup, reports indicate that Rayhan Malik has been battling a bug and Ihsan will need his fore check to set the tone in their game against Emaan.

- Fahad Mallik was shut out once again as his terrible season continues.  It's a testemant to the depth of Shukr that they have been able to put together such a strong regular season while getting nothing from their GM.  Co-GM Naeem Akhtar has circulated this image in hope of finding Mallik.

- Umair Ashraf of Ikhlas was excited to have his team retain a top two seed, saying that he has opening night tickets for the new Star Wars movie - he stated that he has been working on his Chewbacca costume for a while in anticipation of the new movie.