- Week Seven saw Emaan jump back into first, Shukr get a solid grip on 3rd while moving them within reach of a top-two spot and Ikhlas picked up their first win and jumped past Ihsan into 5th.
- The night opened with Ihsan going into a critical game against Ikhlas with an empty net as Fraz Khan continues to recover from injury. The result was a devastating 7-0 loss that dropped Ihsan into 6th place.
- Emaan recovered from their blowout loss to Sabr a week earlier to control their game against Haya and get a 5-1 win. Leaving nothing to chance in a game that would decide first place, Emaan rolled out their top line often and the strategy worked as the double-shifts allowed for mismatches that they were able to exploit. Yousuf Sowdagar finished with 3 goals and an assist while Gehad Alhundi had three assists. Arif Bijabhai looked good in his debut with a pair of assists.
- For Ihsan the defeat was demoralising on multiple levels, Amir Multani and Ahmad Hathout were shut out again which has observers stunned. Suffice to say Hathout is now 0/5 in his quest to break the record for fastest goal but to have these two players struggling so mightily is a shock - and one of the key factors in the teams struggle.
- Haya was missing captain Waqar Khan last week with some confusion as to where he was with one observer suggesting he had gone looking for his league jersey in Bangladesh where they were made as Haya had a few sent in at the beginning of the season to have the size corrected and they never returned.
- Ikhlas had a rough start to their season but things are looking up and one of their key players in Humza Chaudhry is finding his groove. The young winger have five goals and an assist in his past two games - production that many expected from him and now that he is starting to pick it up look for Ikhlas to start winning more.
- Shukr got a boost with the debut of Sadat Malik who was dealing with an injury and missed the first four games of the season. He finished the game with an assist and looks like a fit for the system Shukr plays under Coach K who must be relieved to have some help as he has been carrying this team all season.
- Umair Ashraf was another player missing for Haya last week, reportedly he was off celebrating his successful contribution to the MAX Gala Awards where he served as MC. Many praised the work of Ashraf at this event and noted that he handled the pressure better than he has during his I-Slam Debut where he….anyhow credit also goes to Aazar Zafar of Shukr as the driving force behind this great event.
- Sabr took a blow before their game when it was revealed that Osama Soliman has an injured finger and was forced to withdraw. He will be replaced by Shuaib Hussein who has played with some of Sabr’s key players before and will be under pressure to replace the production of Soliman who had put up 6 points in four games.
- Shukr got a big win over Sabr last week which gives them a firm grip on 3rd place and just a win away from first place. Coach K had high expectations for his team and a top two finish was part of that plan so he seems to be getting his team to where they were expected to finish as the season progresses.
- In the big win Ikhlas had last week over Ihsan, the effort of Rayhan Taqiuddin stood out for some additional praise, he used his body to wear down opposing players and a big collision with Ihsan forward Ahmad Ibrahim left the latter down for a short time. Taqiuddin was credited with some solid back-checking on the Ihsan forwards in helping to limit Amir Multani and Ahmad Hathout and added an empty net goal in the final minute of his teams big win which jumped them out of last and into 5th place.
- There are reports that there will be a bit of a goalie shortage this week with some minor knocks taking net minders out for the week, expect to see Sumeer Subedar, Zaid Majoo and Sheraz Mahmood filling in for teams in need.
Player of the Game Videos have been Posted:
Ikhlas vs Ihsan - Humza Chaudhry (video not available)
Emaan vs Haya - Yousuf Sowdagar (video not available)
Shukr vs Sabr - Aazar Zafar with three goals in the win
Friday, 8 April 2016
Friday, 1 April 2016
Week Six - April 1st
- Week Five saw a Haya make a surprising jump into first place, Sabr get their first win and the Ikhlas struggles continue
- Ihsan was hoping to get a win against Haya but found themselves facing an uphill battle as Nadeem Faqiri was not available and Amir Multani was a late scratch due to fitness after predicting a big game for himself.
- A common theme last week was missing goalies, while Sabr and Ihsan used Zaid Majoo as a fill-in, Shukr was not so lucky and forced Coach K to be creative in his teams game against Ikhlas. In a masterstroke, Coach K convinced Akib Malik to suit up as a goalie and the former best defensive forward got the job done, backstopping his team to a 4-2 win.
- Haya was predicted to have penalty issues this season with Rayhan Malik and Farrukh Khan in the lineup but over their first three games both players stayed out of trouble. That changed last week against Ihsan where both players took two minors each and forced Haya to kill numerous penalties.
- Ahmad Hathout remains without a point this season, one of the major factors as Ihsan has stumbled out of the gate. The two time scoring champion has had chances but has not been able to finish anything, also he is now 0/4 in his promise to set the record for fastest goal in a game.
- Sabr pulled off a 7-2 rout of Emaan where Hany Soliman finished with 3 goals and 2 assists and Osama Soliman had 2 goals and 3 assists. Salman Alvi also finished with 2 goals and 2 assists in a dominant game.
- Shukr was expecting to have Sadat Malik back last week from injury but he was not ready at game time so Coach K shouldered the load patrolling the blue line against Ikhlas.
- Zaid Majoo pulled a rare back-to-back performance where he backstopped Sabr to a 7-2 win before losing to Haya 2-1. He was strong in both games and considering he had just finished playing, was sharp against Haya and his quick glove hand shut down a 5-on-3 power play advantage for Haya. Both teams had reached out to Sheraz Mahmood but Sheraz Bhai was not able to play forcing Majoo into double-duty.
- After Emaan and Ikhlas both lost last week, they made a blockbuster trade with Arif Bijabhai and Saqib Sheikh moving to Emaan in exchange for Saqib Khokar and Imran Lakhanpal. Bijabhai is the best player in the deal despite his struggles this season and Sheikh may be an underrated add on as he is a strong defensive center that can help Emaan down the middle. In Khokar and Lakhanpal, Ikhlas is hoping for some veteran leadership and versatility as both players are able to play on the blue line - the glaring deficiency for Ikhlas this season.
- The league was on a bye for March 25th, which lined up perfectly for Ahmad Hathout who organized a team outing to watch the new Superman vs Batman movie. It was noted last week that he refers to himself as Batman but strangely against Haya he referred to Waqar Khan as Superman - making it seem as though the Haya vs Ihsan game was a preview of his favourite movie.
- Week Six has some interesting match ups as Ikhlas faces Ihsan in a battle for 5th, Shukr and Sabr face off in a battle for 3rd while Haya and Emaan meet to decide 1st place.
Player of the Game Video's have been posted:
Shukr vs Ikhlas - Kashif Taqiuddin (video not available)
Sabr vs Emaan - Hany Soliman leads Sabr with 3 goals and 2 assists
Haya vs Ihsan - Azhar Kalair is key in Haya's 2-1 win over Ihsan
- Ihsan was hoping to get a win against Haya but found themselves facing an uphill battle as Nadeem Faqiri was not available and Amir Multani was a late scratch due to fitness after predicting a big game for himself.
- A common theme last week was missing goalies, while Sabr and Ihsan used Zaid Majoo as a fill-in, Shukr was not so lucky and forced Coach K to be creative in his teams game against Ikhlas. In a masterstroke, Coach K convinced Akib Malik to suit up as a goalie and the former best defensive forward got the job done, backstopping his team to a 4-2 win.
- Haya was predicted to have penalty issues this season with Rayhan Malik and Farrukh Khan in the lineup but over their first three games both players stayed out of trouble. That changed last week against Ihsan where both players took two minors each and forced Haya to kill numerous penalties.
- Ahmad Hathout remains without a point this season, one of the major factors as Ihsan has stumbled out of the gate. The two time scoring champion has had chances but has not been able to finish anything, also he is now 0/4 in his promise to set the record for fastest goal in a game.
- Sabr pulled off a 7-2 rout of Emaan where Hany Soliman finished with 3 goals and 2 assists and Osama Soliman had 2 goals and 3 assists. Salman Alvi also finished with 2 goals and 2 assists in a dominant game.
- Shukr was expecting to have Sadat Malik back last week from injury but he was not ready at game time so Coach K shouldered the load patrolling the blue line against Ikhlas.
- Zaid Majoo pulled a rare back-to-back performance where he backstopped Sabr to a 7-2 win before losing to Haya 2-1. He was strong in both games and considering he had just finished playing, was sharp against Haya and his quick glove hand shut down a 5-on-3 power play advantage for Haya. Both teams had reached out to Sheraz Mahmood but Sheraz Bhai was not able to play forcing Majoo into double-duty.
- After Emaan and Ikhlas both lost last week, they made a blockbuster trade with Arif Bijabhai and Saqib Sheikh moving to Emaan in exchange for Saqib Khokar and Imran Lakhanpal. Bijabhai is the best player in the deal despite his struggles this season and Sheikh may be an underrated add on as he is a strong defensive center that can help Emaan down the middle. In Khokar and Lakhanpal, Ikhlas is hoping for some veteran leadership and versatility as both players are able to play on the blue line - the glaring deficiency for Ikhlas this season.
- The league was on a bye for March 25th, which lined up perfectly for Ahmad Hathout who organized a team outing to watch the new Superman vs Batman movie. It was noted last week that he refers to himself as Batman but strangely against Haya he referred to Waqar Khan as Superman - making it seem as though the Haya vs Ihsan game was a preview of his favourite movie.
- Week Six has some interesting match ups as Ikhlas faces Ihsan in a battle for 5th, Shukr and Sabr face off in a battle for 3rd while Haya and Emaan meet to decide 1st place.
Player of the Game Video's have been posted:
Shukr vs Ikhlas - Kashif Taqiuddin (video not available)
Sabr vs Emaan - Hany Soliman leads Sabr with 3 goals and 2 assists
Haya vs Ihsan - Azhar Kalair is key in Haya's 2-1 win over Ihsan
Friday, 18 March 2016
Week Five - March 18th
- Week Four saw the top two teams win again while the remaining four teams failed to break apart from each other.
- For the first time this season, all six teams were in action all teams in action in the same night gave teams an opportunity to check out the competition. Many raved about Emaan’s offence and particularly their top line that seemed unstoppable.
- Ihsan was pumped for the debut of Amir Multani whom they acquired off waivers, Multani was touted as the boost their offense needed to get going but the results were far from that. Against Sabr they got shut out and managed only 11 shots on net as a team. GM Fuzail Thakur said that he was not concerned after the game but perhaps he should be, two goals in three games for an offense that was considered one of the best just won't do
- Ikhlas came in with a short bench and struggling and despite a good start, collapsed against Haya and ended up on the wrong end of a 7-1 rout. Yusuf Kapoor stood on his head early, robbing Waqar Khan on a breakaway and then stoning Ozair Naveed and Azhar Kalair. Kapoor's heroics kept his team in the game until early in the 2nd half when his team in front of him finally let fatigue catch up and Haya went to work with their forwards left unmarked in front and able to pop in rebounds for easy goals
- Shukr continues to struggle with injuries, last game missing Aazar Zafar who went down with the flu. The fact that Coach K has kept his team in third place despite so many key players being unavailable is a positive sign for this team for when they finally get everyone healthy
- Haya clearly found their offensive touch last week against Ikhlas, the output from Waqar Khan of a hat-trick was not a surprise, but the boost from the second line was what broke the game open as Asim Gauhar (2 goals, 1 assist), Usamah Rao (1 goal, 2 assists) and Shoaib Bhatti (three assists) were a force all game. Their hard work early in the game resulted in many chances that Yusuf Kappor turned away but their perseverance paid off in the 2nd half by which time the Ikhlas defense core was running on fumes.
- Emaan's top line continues to set the pace this season, Gehad Alhundi leads the league with 13 points while Yousuf Sowdagar has 11 points and Ibrahim Hindy has 7 points. This week Sabr has the unenviable task of trying to shut down this dynamic trio.
- Back to the Ihsan, Ahmad Hathout still has yet to record a point this season let alone make good on his statement that he would set the record for fastest goal to start a game - he’s 0/3 for those keeping track. Hathout has all the tools to turn this around so many are baffled as to the reason for his slow start; one theory is that he is worn down after carrying Sabr to the championship in the recent fall season
- Some observers were curious about Haya and why the full team was not wearing their league jerseys, a team spokesman advised that there was an issue with jersey sizes (Haya along with some other teams) as rather than Ball Hockey Jerseys the team received much larger Ice Hockey Jerseys. After his big game last week, Asim Gauhar may want to keep wearing his Joe Sakic Nordiques jersey rather than his league jersey whenever it comes back from the manufacturer in the correct size
- Coach K has announced that Sadat Malik will be making his debut and not a moment too soon, fitting him into the Coach K system on the fly will be a challenge but he is a veteran shut-down defenseman who will fit right in.
- Reports indicate that Ahmad Hathout has been trying to motivate his team by impersonating Batman during pre-game chats; going so far as to state: “I’m the hero that Ihsan needs, but not the one it deserves. Opposing defensemen hunt me, because i can take it. Because I’m your hero. A silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Dark Knight."
- For the first time this season, all six teams were in action all teams in action in the same night gave teams an opportunity to check out the competition. Many raved about Emaan’s offence and particularly their top line that seemed unstoppable.
- Ihsan was pumped for the debut of Amir Multani whom they acquired off waivers, Multani was touted as the boost their offense needed to get going but the results were far from that. Against Sabr they got shut out and managed only 11 shots on net as a team. GM Fuzail Thakur said that he was not concerned after the game but perhaps he should be, two goals in three games for an offense that was considered one of the best just won't do
- Ikhlas came in with a short bench and struggling and despite a good start, collapsed against Haya and ended up on the wrong end of a 7-1 rout. Yusuf Kapoor stood on his head early, robbing Waqar Khan on a breakaway and then stoning Ozair Naveed and Azhar Kalair. Kapoor's heroics kept his team in the game until early in the 2nd half when his team in front of him finally let fatigue catch up and Haya went to work with their forwards left unmarked in front and able to pop in rebounds for easy goals
- Shukr continues to struggle with injuries, last game missing Aazar Zafar who went down with the flu. The fact that Coach K has kept his team in third place despite so many key players being unavailable is a positive sign for this team for when they finally get everyone healthy
- Haya clearly found their offensive touch last week against Ikhlas, the output from Waqar Khan of a hat-trick was not a surprise, but the boost from the second line was what broke the game open as Asim Gauhar (2 goals, 1 assist), Usamah Rao (1 goal, 2 assists) and Shoaib Bhatti (three assists) were a force all game. Their hard work early in the game resulted in many chances that Yusuf Kappor turned away but their perseverance paid off in the 2nd half by which time the Ikhlas defense core was running on fumes.
- Emaan's top line continues to set the pace this season, Gehad Alhundi leads the league with 13 points while Yousuf Sowdagar has 11 points and Ibrahim Hindy has 7 points. This week Sabr has the unenviable task of trying to shut down this dynamic trio.
- Back to the Ihsan, Ahmad Hathout still has yet to record a point this season let alone make good on his statement that he would set the record for fastest goal to start a game - he’s 0/3 for those keeping track. Hathout has all the tools to turn this around so many are baffled as to the reason for his slow start; one theory is that he is worn down after carrying Sabr to the championship in the recent fall season
- Some observers were curious about Haya and why the full team was not wearing their league jerseys, a team spokesman advised that there was an issue with jersey sizes (Haya along with some other teams) as rather than Ball Hockey Jerseys the team received much larger Ice Hockey Jerseys. After his big game last week, Asim Gauhar may want to keep wearing his Joe Sakic Nordiques jersey rather than his league jersey whenever it comes back from the manufacturer in the correct size
- Coach K has announced that Sadat Malik will be making his debut and not a moment too soon, fitting him into the Coach K system on the fly will be a challenge but he is a veteran shut-down defenseman who will fit right in.
- Reports indicate that Ahmad Hathout has been trying to motivate his team by impersonating Batman during pre-game chats; going so far as to state: “I’m the hero that Ihsan needs, but not the one it deserves. Opposing defensemen hunt me, because i can take it. Because I’m your hero. A silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Dark Knight."
- Week Five has some added drama with reports of three teams potentially missing their goalie as Yasir Hussain, Sadiq Rehman and Fraz Khan are not available. Shukr has already stated that they will be dressing Akib Malik who is one of the best defensive forwards as their goalie in another out of the box move from Coach K as he keeps his team together. As for Sabr and Ihsan their goalie plans are not clear but one will likely use Zaid Majoo. Reports indicate that both teams reached out to Sheraz Mahmood to dress for them but Sheraz Bhai declined indicating he had a prior commitment.
- With a tough game against Haya this week, Ihsan GM Fuzail Thakur has guaranteed a big game from Amir Multani
- With a tough game against Haya this week, Ihsan GM Fuzail Thakur has guaranteed a big game from Amir Multani
Thursday, 10 March 2016
Week Four - March 11th
- Week Three saw one top team stumble in Shukr while another top contender in Emaan dominated.
- Ihsan went into their game with high hopes for their offense with the addition of newly acquired Amir Multani but he was not dressed for this game his teams offense came out flat as a result. The pressure is on Multani to show up and get Ihsan on the right track. Reportedly he has been working out twice a day to get into shape for the season.
- Shukr took a surprise loss last week, although with all the injuries the team was facing they had a large challege to overcome. Yet while this was the first regular season loss for Shukr this season, this was the first regular season loss for Aazar Zafar in two seasons as who was part of the undefeated Shukr team from the last fall season.
- Haya had their full line-up available for their game against Shukr - sort of. Ozair Naveed left a private box at the Toronto Raptors vs Cleveland Cavaliers game early to make his game however while he arrived to the arena on time he quickly realized he forgot his helmet. ozair lefts raptors game to get to his game, forgot helmet and missed first half of his game racing home to retrieve it. Unconfirmed reports indicate that Haya Captain Waqar Khan will be providing his team with an equipment checklist to review before each game as for the same game Huzaifa Shahid forgot his shorts and played in his track pants.
- The Shukr loss ruined the evening for Nadeem Qureshi who was celebrating his birthday that night. Coach K gave a touching birthday toast post game to try and take some of the sting of the loss away.
- Going into Week Four, the pressure is on Sabr and Ihsan who face each other with both teams looking for their first win. No word on whether either team is looking to make a move but if the losing doesn't end, both teams could try to shake things up via a trade to get going.
- Shukr got a massive effort from Kashif Taqiuddin who worked to cover for the missing players in his lineup. During the game he took on the challenge of shutting down Haya's leader Waqar Khan and was successful in the head-to-head match-up. In one instance, using his veteran guile to knock the net off just as Khan snapped in a loose rebound. Post game, Coach K showed off the scars from his effort with a pair of open cuts.
- To say that Emaan dominated their game is an understatement, Gehad Alhundi finished with six points, Yousuf Sowdagar with five points and Ibrahim Hindy had four points. If their top line keeps putting up strong efforts like this they will be hard to stop.
- Haya had a minor injury scare as during their game against Shukr, Shoaib Bhatti came off a shift with a lower body injury that he later said was minor and not a long term concern.
- Despite the loss, Coach K praised the effort of Jaudat Wasty who made a strong debut for Shukr. With his experience playing in the Coach K system, Wasty was expected to fit in well and that he did logging big minutes against Haya.
- Ahmad Hathout once again missed out on breaking the fastest goal record as he promised before his season started. More alarming for Ihsan is that the League's Regular Season scoring leader is without a point after two games.
- The injuries for Shukr have been mentioned but in addition to the season ending injury to Humza Hussain, the multiple games that Sadat Malik is expected to miss and the knee injury to Ali Malik. Saleem Malik who played through a painful hand injury to give his team a chance to win.
- Games for March 4th were cancelled due to the arena mistakenly double booking the night, those games have been moved to later in the season. That said there were a few interesting theories as to why the games were delayed, with some of the most entertaining being:
Player of the Game videos have been posted:
Haya vs Shukr - Azhar Kalair with the Game Winning goal
Emaan vs Ihsan - Gehad Alhundi (he was not available to the media post-game)
- Ihsan went into their game with high hopes for their offense with the addition of newly acquired Amir Multani but he was not dressed for this game his teams offense came out flat as a result. The pressure is on Multani to show up and get Ihsan on the right track. Reportedly he has been working out twice a day to get into shape for the season.
- Shukr took a surprise loss last week, although with all the injuries the team was facing they had a large challege to overcome. Yet while this was the first regular season loss for Shukr this season, this was the first regular season loss for Aazar Zafar in two seasons as who was part of the undefeated Shukr team from the last fall season.
- Haya had their full line-up available for their game against Shukr - sort of. Ozair Naveed left a private box at the Toronto Raptors vs Cleveland Cavaliers game early to make his game however while he arrived to the arena on time he quickly realized he forgot his helmet. ozair lefts raptors game to get to his game, forgot helmet and missed first half of his game racing home to retrieve it. Unconfirmed reports indicate that Haya Captain Waqar Khan will be providing his team with an equipment checklist to review before each game as for the same game Huzaifa Shahid forgot his shorts and played in his track pants.
- The Shukr loss ruined the evening for Nadeem Qureshi who was celebrating his birthday that night. Coach K gave a touching birthday toast post game to try and take some of the sting of the loss away.
- Going into Week Four, the pressure is on Sabr and Ihsan who face each other with both teams looking for their first win. No word on whether either team is looking to make a move but if the losing doesn't end, both teams could try to shake things up via a trade to get going.
- Shukr got a massive effort from Kashif Taqiuddin who worked to cover for the missing players in his lineup. During the game he took on the challenge of shutting down Haya's leader Waqar Khan and was successful in the head-to-head match-up. In one instance, using his veteran guile to knock the net off just as Khan snapped in a loose rebound. Post game, Coach K showed off the scars from his effort with a pair of open cuts.
- To say that Emaan dominated their game is an understatement, Gehad Alhundi finished with six points, Yousuf Sowdagar with five points and Ibrahim Hindy had four points. If their top line keeps putting up strong efforts like this they will be hard to stop.
- Haya had a minor injury scare as during their game against Shukr, Shoaib Bhatti came off a shift with a lower body injury that he later said was minor and not a long term concern.
- Despite the loss, Coach K praised the effort of Jaudat Wasty who made a strong debut for Shukr. With his experience playing in the Coach K system, Wasty was expected to fit in well and that he did logging big minutes against Haya.
- Ahmad Hathout once again missed out on breaking the fastest goal record as he promised before his season started. More alarming for Ihsan is that the League's Regular Season scoring leader is without a point after two games.
- The injuries for Shukr have been mentioned but in addition to the season ending injury to Humza Hussain, the multiple games that Sadat Malik is expected to miss and the knee injury to Ali Malik. Saleem Malik who played through a painful hand injury to give his team a chance to win.
- Games for March 4th were cancelled due to the arena mistakenly double booking the night, those games have been moved to later in the season. That said there were a few interesting theories as to why the games were delayed, with some of the most entertaining being:
- Coach K trying to stall a week to help Shukr get over their numerous injury issues
- Ahmad Ibrahim of Ihsan getting his game cancelled so he could celebrate his birthday
- Sabr worried that Sheraz Mahmood may have put too much pressure on himself going into his game against Haya where he was filling in for the night and eager to face off against some of his friends - Sheraz Bhai had guaranteed a shutout
- Amir Multani trying to get his game cancelled after failing a pregame fitness test
Player of the Game videos have been posted:
Haya vs Shukr - Azhar Kalair with the Game Winning goal
Emaan vs Ihsan - Gehad Alhundi (he was not available to the media post-game)
Thursday, 25 February 2016
Week Three - February 26th
- Week Two saw a pair of teams making their debut as Ihsan and Emaan had a chance to hit the floor with mixed results. Ihsan ended their game in a 0-0 draw with Ikhlas while Emaan defeated Sabr 4-3.
- After a rough Week One, Ikhlas rebounded with a 0-0 tie against Ihsan and can thank Yusuf Kapoor for the result as the young goalie saved everything thrown at him. Ikhlas has had some absences in their first two games that are impacting their offense but with the young talent that they have it’s only a matter of time before they start clicking.
- Shukr is reportedly dealing with multiple injury issues, the suspected injury to Sadat Malik was reported on last week but after Week One is was revealed that Humza Hussain has gone down with a knee injury adding to the teams woes. For this week it appears that Shukr will also be without Saleem Malik while another unnamed player will be playing with an injury. Coach K said that the team he built was drafted in a way where he could move pieces around and still control games so he is confident his team will still control games despite the injury issues.
- With the Humza Hussain injury news and his inability to continue this season, Shukr put Amir Multani into the waiver process to replace Hussain however Ihsan quickly put in a claim for Multani where Shukr then chose to take Imdad Ali as compensation from Ihsan. Not done, Coach K quickly flipped Ali to Sabr in exchange for Jaudat Wasty. A dizzying series of moves rarely seen
- Jaudat Wasty fits well into the Coach K system having played within it during the recent Fall Season and will be expected to play a big role for this top ranked team.
- Sabr gets Imdad Ali who provides them with a more physical and offensive touch from the veteran who will need to step in an provide an immediate punch to their back line.
- Ihsan adds a forward in Amir Multani to try and give them a boost, being shut out in their season opener may have been the push for them to take advantage of this opportunity to upgrade their forwards but came at a high price as Ihsan now has to shuffle players to replace Imdad Ali on defense.
- Last season, Fuzail Thakur, aka “Mr. Thakur” was running an Uber Service for his team as he was chauffeuring teammates around all season. This season he ensured that Humaiz Shahid and Abdul Rafey had their ride situation sorted out prior to the draft as a condition of selecting them to Ihsan.
- Emaan was rated as one of the top teams and their offense showed why as a 4-3 win in their debut was hard fought. With Khalid Mufti in net they know that they can take risks pushing the ball up and he will bail them out each time.
- Ahmad Hathout stated that he would break the record for fastest goal in a game, so far he’s 0/1 but we’ll keep track of his journey and keep fans updated. No doubt he has the speed and skill to do it so best of luck to him. After his first game where he was shutout he expressed disappointment in his performance and blamed it on having eaten some whole wheat bread prior to the game.
- Ali Murtaza and Nadeem Qureshi have been deployed as defensemen the past few seasons much to their dismay as they prefer to play their favoured position of forward. That said each have received assurances from Coach K that he will fulfill their dreams of playing up. This Make-a-Wish foundation type of request is a risk so only time will tell if it was the right move for Coach K to make.
- Some have questioned the decline in play of Hany Soliman, once viewed as a great power forward he has seen a drop off of late, one wild theory is that he no longer wears his picnic shorts when he plays and has had teammates scouring eBay looking to find a replacement hoping it will bring back his scoring touch.
- Observers were amazed that Haya managed to escape their opening game without a penalty considering that they have Rayhan Malik and Farrukh Khan who finished top two in penalties last season. Coach K was unable to tame Malik so it remains to be seen if Haya GM Zuhair Fancy has any better luck. That said it may be the presence of Shoaib Bhatti, a long time friend of Malik that finally reigns him in.
- Ikhlas has struggled in their first two games with just one goal to show for their efforts but are looking forward to the bye week to allow their head coach Ijaz Chaudhry to recover after a bout with the flu as well as Junaid Mohammad to return from a work assignment.
- When Coach K was asked why he selected Amir Multani as his replacement player, he said that despite the reports of Multani being out of shape and in poor form, he was confident that he could rebuild him similar to how he has done for other players the past few seasons. With Multani now going to Ihsan instead it will be interesting to see if they can get him to bounce back from his last season in the league, a disastrous campaign where he ended with just one assist all season.
- Ikhlas got a good boost from AK who was playing his first game of organized ball hockey but he quickly adapted and impressed enough to be thrown into key situations down the stretch of their game against Ihsan.
- Back to the Soliman brothers, a pundit recently questioned why all four never play in the same game with one brother always missing. Sabr GM Salman Alvi has been trying to convince them that there is no “3 Brother Rule” which requires one of the four to sit out each week. No confirmation on where this false rule may have come from some suspect the cerebral assassin Coach K.
Player of the Game videos have been posted:
Ikhlas vs Ihsan - Yusuf Kapoor with the shutout
Emaan vs Sabr - Gehad Alhundi (he was not available to the media post-game)
- After a rough Week One, Ikhlas rebounded with a 0-0 tie against Ihsan and can thank Yusuf Kapoor for the result as the young goalie saved everything thrown at him. Ikhlas has had some absences in their first two games that are impacting their offense but with the young talent that they have it’s only a matter of time before they start clicking.
- Shukr is reportedly dealing with multiple injury issues, the suspected injury to Sadat Malik was reported on last week but after Week One is was revealed that Humza Hussain has gone down with a knee injury adding to the teams woes. For this week it appears that Shukr will also be without Saleem Malik while another unnamed player will be playing with an injury. Coach K said that the team he built was drafted in a way where he could move pieces around and still control games so he is confident his team will still control games despite the injury issues.
- With the Humza Hussain injury news and his inability to continue this season, Shukr put Amir Multani into the waiver process to replace Hussain however Ihsan quickly put in a claim for Multani where Shukr then chose to take Imdad Ali as compensation from Ihsan. Not done, Coach K quickly flipped Ali to Sabr in exchange for Jaudat Wasty. A dizzying series of moves rarely seen
- Jaudat Wasty fits well into the Coach K system having played within it during the recent Fall Season and will be expected to play a big role for this top ranked team.
- Sabr gets Imdad Ali who provides them with a more physical and offensive touch from the veteran who will need to step in an provide an immediate punch to their back line.
- Ihsan adds a forward in Amir Multani to try and give them a boost, being shut out in their season opener may have been the push for them to take advantage of this opportunity to upgrade their forwards but came at a high price as Ihsan now has to shuffle players to replace Imdad Ali on defense.
- Last season, Fuzail Thakur, aka “Mr. Thakur” was running an Uber Service for his team as he was chauffeuring teammates around all season. This season he ensured that Humaiz Shahid and Abdul Rafey had their ride situation sorted out prior to the draft as a condition of selecting them to Ihsan.
- Emaan was rated as one of the top teams and their offense showed why as a 4-3 win in their debut was hard fought. With Khalid Mufti in net they know that they can take risks pushing the ball up and he will bail them out each time.
- Ahmad Hathout stated that he would break the record for fastest goal in a game, so far he’s 0/1 but we’ll keep track of his journey and keep fans updated. No doubt he has the speed and skill to do it so best of luck to him. After his first game where he was shutout he expressed disappointment in his performance and blamed it on having eaten some whole wheat bread prior to the game.
- Ali Murtaza and Nadeem Qureshi have been deployed as defensemen the past few seasons much to their dismay as they prefer to play their favoured position of forward. That said each have received assurances from Coach K that he will fulfill their dreams of playing up. This Make-a-Wish foundation type of request is a risk so only time will tell if it was the right move for Coach K to make.
- Some have questioned the decline in play of Hany Soliman, once viewed as a great power forward he has seen a drop off of late, one wild theory is that he no longer wears his picnic shorts when he plays and has had teammates scouring eBay looking to find a replacement hoping it will bring back his scoring touch.
- Observers were amazed that Haya managed to escape their opening game without a penalty considering that they have Rayhan Malik and Farrukh Khan who finished top two in penalties last season. Coach K was unable to tame Malik so it remains to be seen if Haya GM Zuhair Fancy has any better luck. That said it may be the presence of Shoaib Bhatti, a long time friend of Malik that finally reigns him in.
- Ikhlas has struggled in their first two games with just one goal to show for their efforts but are looking forward to the bye week to allow their head coach Ijaz Chaudhry to recover after a bout with the flu as well as Junaid Mohammad to return from a work assignment.
- When Coach K was asked why he selected Amir Multani as his replacement player, he said that despite the reports of Multani being out of shape and in poor form, he was confident that he could rebuild him similar to how he has done for other players the past few seasons. With Multani now going to Ihsan instead it will be interesting to see if they can get him to bounce back from his last season in the league, a disastrous campaign where he ended with just one assist all season.
- Ikhlas got a good boost from AK who was playing his first game of organized ball hockey but he quickly adapted and impressed enough to be thrown into key situations down the stretch of their game against Ihsan.
- Back to the Soliman brothers, a pundit recently questioned why all four never play in the same game with one brother always missing. Sabr GM Salman Alvi has been trying to convince them that there is no “3 Brother Rule” which requires one of the four to sit out each week. No confirmation on where this false rule may have come from some suspect the cerebral assassin Coach K.
Player of the Game videos have been posted:
Ikhlas vs Ihsan - Yusuf Kapoor with the shutout
Emaan vs Sabr - Gehad Alhundi (he was not available to the media post-game)
Thursday, 18 February 2016
Week Two - February 19th
- The season kicked off last week with a pair of games, Haya took advantage of shorthanded Ikhlas to emerge with a 5-1 win while Shukr defeated Sabr 3-1 in a tight game
- Haya vs Ikhlas opened the season but before anyone could get settled, Waqar Khan scored just nine seconds into the game to give his team a quick lead and seemed to stun Ikhlas who appeared deflated to be down so quickly. For the record books, Khan's goal is not actually the fastest to open a game. That honour goes to Ali Memon and Arif Bijabhai who both scored six seconds into a game while Fahad Mallik ties Khan scoring nine seconds into a game. Not to be outdone, Ahmad Hathout of Ihsan has stated that he can beat Khan's record and will do so this season
- Looking to meet the next Canadian Idol? Stop by Shukr's dressing room after their next game and you can listen to Faisal Mehboob singing in the shower - he promises a new tune each night
- A touching moment during the Haya vs Ikhlas game when Arslan Mian and Shoaib Bhatti crossed paths on the floor; Bhatti was once Mian’s teacher in high school and the two exchanged a few pleasantries before a face-off.
- Arif Bijabhai had an unexpected fan contingent in his corner as Furqan Salam, Jibran Salam and Bilal Pervaiz all showed up to support their friend. Furqan Salam has not played since winning his first championship last Spring Season and deciding to step away from the game. The pinnacle for him was this touching moment where he thanked one of the two players responsible for his win as he insisted on presenting Waqar Khan with his medal; Coach K being the other key player for Salam. All that said the "Ari Bold Fan Club" left the arena in tears after watching their friend struggle in his opening game. Furqan Salam did not have any words as he left other than this picture taken of him.
- Ikhlas opened their season missing a few key players and the result was their defense core being stretched thin and keeping them hemmed in their zone too often leading to a loss
- Post draft is was remarked that Haya has many of the key players from Ikhlas of the recent Fall Season - ironically though the two architects of that team, Ahmad Ibrahim and Mohammed Hamoud are not part of Haya
- Shukr defenseman Sadat Malik is reportedly unavailable to his team until sometime in March, details are limited as to the cause but rumours are he is nursing an injury. Coach K is confident that his team can cover for Malik meaning that his arrival will make this potent team even stronger
- When Shoaib Bhatti was asked about his return to the game after taking a few seasons off after his infamous “I Quit” game against Nadeem Qureshi where he lost and was forced into retirement, Bhatti indicated that as Qureshi had lost his own “I Quit” match against Kashif Taqiuddin and continued to play it negated his own retirement.
- Ikhlas did get a nice highlight goal from Abdur-Rahman Buttar as he showed great hand-eye coordination to knock a ball that came off the back boards out of the air and into the top corner of the Haya net
- Player of the Game videos have been posted:
- Haya vs Ikhlas opened the season but before anyone could get settled, Waqar Khan scored just nine seconds into the game to give his team a quick lead and seemed to stun Ikhlas who appeared deflated to be down so quickly. For the record books, Khan's goal is not actually the fastest to open a game. That honour goes to Ali Memon and Arif Bijabhai who both scored six seconds into a game while Fahad Mallik ties Khan scoring nine seconds into a game. Not to be outdone, Ahmad Hathout of Ihsan has stated that he can beat Khan's record and will do so this season
- Looking to meet the next Canadian Idol? Stop by Shukr's dressing room after their next game and you can listen to Faisal Mehboob singing in the shower - he promises a new tune each night
- A touching moment during the Haya vs Ikhlas game when Arslan Mian and Shoaib Bhatti crossed paths on the floor; Bhatti was once Mian’s teacher in high school and the two exchanged a few pleasantries before a face-off.
- Arif Bijabhai had an unexpected fan contingent in his corner as Furqan Salam, Jibran Salam and Bilal Pervaiz all showed up to support their friend. Furqan Salam has not played since winning his first championship last Spring Season and deciding to step away from the game. The pinnacle for him was this touching moment where he thanked one of the two players responsible for his win as he insisted on presenting Waqar Khan with his medal; Coach K being the other key player for Salam. All that said the "Ari Bold Fan Club" left the arena in tears after watching their friend struggle in his opening game. Furqan Salam did not have any words as he left other than this picture taken of him.
- Ikhlas opened their season missing a few key players and the result was their defense core being stretched thin and keeping them hemmed in their zone too often leading to a loss
- Post draft is was remarked that Haya has many of the key players from Ikhlas of the recent Fall Season - ironically though the two architects of that team, Ahmad Ibrahim and Mohammed Hamoud are not part of Haya
- Shukr defenseman Sadat Malik is reportedly unavailable to his team until sometime in March, details are limited as to the cause but rumours are he is nursing an injury. Coach K is confident that his team can cover for Malik meaning that his arrival will make this potent team even stronger
- When Shoaib Bhatti was asked about his return to the game after taking a few seasons off after his infamous “I Quit” game against Nadeem Qureshi where he lost and was forced into retirement, Bhatti indicated that as Qureshi had lost his own “I Quit” match against Kashif Taqiuddin and continued to play it negated his own retirement.
- Ikhlas did get a nice highlight goal from Abdur-Rahman Buttar as he showed great hand-eye coordination to knock a ball that came off the back boards out of the air and into the top corner of the Haya net
- Player of the Game videos have been posted:
Tuesday, 9 February 2016
Week Fourteen - End of Season Review
- The finals pitted 2nd Seed Ikhlas against 6th Seed Sabr with Sabr having already taken out the 3rd Seed in Shukr and 1st Seed in Haya. The game began with an Ikhlas mistake resulting in a shorthanded goal and then another mistake creating the second goal for Sabr to make it 2-1. A Powerplay goal from Hanif Kasuji midway through the second period gave Sabr a 3-1 lead and after Ikhlas made it 3-2. With Ikhlas pressing and Sabr on the verge of breaking, Saqib Khokhar took over and scored twice within 23 seconds to make it 5-2 and lock up the game.
- Ikhlas seemed to dominate stretches of the game but were unable to finish, many shots were blocked, went wide or the final pass was poor and eliminated a scoring chance. The mistakes they made often resulted in goals against with turnovers in front of the net and poor defensive coverage.
- Sabr completes the almost impossible dream, they defeated the top three seeds in the playoffs and won more playoff games (three) than regular season games (two) which is an incredible feat.
- In the post-game celebrations, Sabr captain Huzaifa Manjra took time to speak about his style of leadership, describing it as tough love modeled after Iron Mike Keenan. He also noted that his team had attendance issues during the regular season but as soon as they had their full roster his team was able to defeat teams that outsiders believed to be far superior.
- Sabr players could be heard singing, "Started from the bottom now we're here!" as they accepted the Championship Trophy.
- Here is your Fall 2016 Season Champions, Sabr:
- The Video Recap of the Finals is posted and can be viewed here.
Congratulations again to Sabr and thank-you to all who participated in this season.
- Ikhlas seemed to dominate stretches of the game but were unable to finish, many shots were blocked, went wide or the final pass was poor and eliminated a scoring chance. The mistakes they made often resulted in goals against with turnovers in front of the net and poor defensive coverage.
- Sabr completes the almost impossible dream, they defeated the top three seeds in the playoffs and won more playoff games (three) than regular season games (two) which is an incredible feat.
- In the post-game celebrations, Sabr captain Huzaifa Manjra took time to speak about his style of leadership, describing it as tough love modeled after Iron Mike Keenan. He also noted that his team had attendance issues during the regular season but as soon as they had their full roster his team was able to defeat teams that outsiders believed to be far superior.
- Sabr players could be heard singing, "Started from the bottom now we're here!" as they accepted the Championship Trophy.
- Here is your Fall 2016 Season Champions, Sabr:
- The Video Recap of the Finals is posted and can be viewed here.
Congratulations again to Sabr and thank-you to all who participated in this season.
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