Fall Season - Week Four - October 13th

- Week Three start with Yaqeen and Emaan ending in a scoreless draw, Haya get their star players back and their first win of the season and Sabr demolishing Ikhlas by a 5-0 score.

Three Stars of Week Three:
1st Star: Kaunain Saiyed (Haya) - 26 saves on 27 shots
2nd Star: Maaz Haq (Sabr) - Two Goals, One Assist
3rd Star: Ahmad Mobin (Yaqeen) - 23 saves on 23 shots

- It will be interesting to see if the one week layoff for all teams have any impact, some teams were mandating that players increase their workouts to ensure no one comes back in worse shape.

- Bizarre ending/Not something you see every day?  With the score 4-0, Ikhals GM Wakaas Khan pulled his goaltender, Ahmed Jamal with under 2 minutes to go!  It is hard to speculate what the rationale was: was Khan trying to break Sabr’s shutout streak?  Was Khan trying to give his forward confidence after only managing one goal in the past two games?  Whatever the reason it backfired allowing rookie Maaz Haq to complete pick up his second goal of the game with an empty netter.  A rough couple of games for Ikhlas as they demolished Yaqeen to open the season only to be roughed up in their past two games.

- Over the break there were reports that Haya sent some of their key players down to Washington DC to recruit some additional talent to add to their roster after finding themselves near the bottom of the standings.  The player they went looking for?  Ahmed Hathout...so you know Haya is getting antsy when they are looking to the Dark Knight for assistance (Editors Note: when Hathout was a mainstay in the league he gave himself the nickname of Batman or Dark Knight as a method to motivate his teammates).  This delicate negotiation was managed by Waqar Khan and Furqan Salam but it is unlikely that they will have been able to get Hathout to return to the league this season.

- Give the people what they want!  Unfortunately Samad Hamidi has been sick the past few weeks and has not been able to post any video previews.  The league is considering pumping him full of some Cold FX and roll him in front of a camera.  His analysis on Waqar Khan was spot on as Shukr used it to keep Khan off the scoresheet.

- Haya failed to get their recap in before the Tuesday deadline which means GM Salman Khalid will serve a 2-minute penalty tonight.  Unfortunately there was miscommunication between the Haya members as to who would do the recap but Salman Khalid has taken a bullet for his team and has accepted full responsibility.  This is the second team to face this punishment as Emaan took a penalty for this in Week Two with GM Luqman Arshad sitting to start the game.  So a reminder to all teams to make sure to not handcuff your team by missing out on the game recap!

- Word out of the Sabr locker room is that they feel Haya will be their toughest competition this season.  The teams meet next Friday, October 20th.  A game some members of Sabr have already dubbed “The New Generation” (Maaz Haq) against “The Present Guard” (Waqar Khan).

- During the pregame speech between Haya and Shukr it was noted that a few Haya players took a knee when Kashif "Coach K" Taqiuddin started to speak.  It was not clear if this was a political statement by Haya players or some poorly timed stretching.

- It was good to see Umair Ashraf back in Week Three after he injured his eye in a collision with Yaqeen Goalie Ahmad Mobin.  Ashraf came back with the full cage - a wise choice to protect his face and a breath of relief to his agent as there was concern that Ashraf may have jeopardized his career as a beard model.

- In other injury news, Sulmaan Azmat of Yaqeen got clipped with a high stick and was bleeding from the lip.  The injury is not serious but he was heard being lectured after the game by his brother Furhan Azmat that he should wear face protection if Sulmaan is serious about his career as an Instagram Model.

- Haya got many of their star players back for Week Three and the result was a win as Junaid Mohammad, Waqar Khan and Salman Khalid all made their debut.  It had been a rough start for Haya this season with short benches becoming an all-too frequent appearance so hopefully they will be able to field a full team going forward.  Mohammad is notorious for having to miss games due to his work schedule so Haya has to hope that he doesn't miss too many more as they have a lot of work to do to climb out of last place.

- Really a 0-0 tie?  How rarely does this happen?  Ahmad Mobin (Yaqeen) and Ahmad Ibrahim (Emaan) settle their challenge with 25 burpees each.  What will be on the line next time when the two teams meet?

- Observers have been a bit surprised that Shukr has struggled to start the season.  The team was drafted with some of the great ball hockey minds the league has seen with Ibrahim Hindy and Coach K and Samad Hamidi in there too.  With only one win in their first three games expect to see this team start to pull it together and

- Here is a true story: Faisal Mehboob carries around an envelope full of toonies which is his shisha spending money for the week.  Perhaps spin it to say that before every game he has a lucky toonie (similar to how the loonie was buried in the ice for Team Canada’s games)?

- The feature game for Week Four will be Haya vs Ikhlas, Cambrige A vs Cambridge B, Khan vs Khan.  Years ago this game was a battle for first place, this season both teams have gotten off to poor starts and are at the bottom of the table.  That aside expect a great deal of intensity in this one and perhaps some fans showing up to support their respective sides.  Wakaas Khan is tied for the league lead in scoring, Waqar Khan has no points so far this season so a bizarre twist from what has happened in past seasons.  Furqan Salam leads Haya with three of the teams four goals scored this season and the pressure is on him to continue to carry the teams offense until some of their other erstwhile stars finally get going.

Fall Season - Week Three - September 29th

- Week Two saw Shukr flex their muscle for a big win over Ikhlas, Yaqeen grind out a 4-1 win over shorthanded Haya and Sabr stay undefeated and unscored upon.

Three Stars of Week Two:
1st Star: Fahad Mohammad (Sabr) - 20 save shutout
2nd Star: Kaunain Saiyed (Haya) - 29 saves on 33 shots
3rd Star: Khalid Mufti (Shukr) - 25 saves on 26 shots

- Rookie Goaltender, Fahad Mohammad of Sabr has started off his I-Slam career with two straight shutouts. But did Samad Hamidi help him out? In one of his videos, he predicted that Sabr would be able to shut the door against Emaan…in the last few minutes of the game, it appeared from the spectators vantage point that Idrees Deen of Emaan beat Mohammed with a laser of shot. However the two men in stripes disagreed with the fans and called it no goal. The moral of the story is Samad Cherry Hamidi knows hockey - so kids always pay attention in his videos

- After scoring the game winning goal against his brothers team, rookie Wajaahat Watsy of Sabr insisted that Jaudat Wasty carry his equipment and sit in the back seat of the car when leaving the arena.

- Another family feud will play out tonight at 8:00pm during the Emaan vs Yaqeen game.  Rizwan Malik of Yaqeen will see some familiar faces on the opposing bench as he faces Sadat Malik, Saleem Malik and Luqman Arshad of Emaan.

- After scoring the lone goal for his team Sahil Mohammed of Haya had a much more subdued celebration in comparison to his father Naveed Mohammed during the summer after Pakistan won the Champions Cricket Trophy .  The elder Mohammed reportedly drove around Brampton asking distraught India fans if they were okay while waving a Pakistan flag on his car.  

- There are rumours that Haya will finally have Waqar Khan in the lineup tonight against Shukr.  It will be interesting to see if Shukr follows the advice of defenseman and league pundit Samad Hamidi as he broke down how to shut Khan down.

- Aside from the family rivalry in tonights Emaan vs Yaqeen game, we have a friendly one too between Ahmad Mobin of Yaqeen and Ahmad Ibrahim of Emaan.  The two have a competition going into tonights game where if Yaqeen loses, Mobin will do 50 burpees and if Emaan loses, Ibrahim does 50 pull-ups.  If the game ends in a tie they both have to do 50 wind-sprints.

- We have a new goal-scoring leader going into tonight’s game and not one you would expect as defenseman Farrukh Khan of Yaqeen leads the league with with 4 goals.

- A few have asked why Haya's Waqar Khan is constantly referred to a "Boom Boom" and the story is legendary.  Khan is an avid cricket fan and can usually be heard talking about the latest cricket game after his game.  Well during the Spring Season, after leading his team to a Championship the team went out to eat together and celebrate at Galitio's in Mississauga.  As Emaan walked into the restaurant, who else but Shahid "Boom Boom" Afridi is sitting there eating with a group of friends.  Afridi was in town for an Islamic Relief event and happened to be finishing up his meal when Khan walked in.  In that moment greatness recognized greatness as Afridi quickly finished up his meal and his group left as Khan led Emaan in.  Regrettably a picture was not taken to commemorate the two icons crossing paths.

Fall Season - Week Two - September 22nd

- The season opened with a close one as grinded out a 1-0 win over Shukr only to be followed by two blowouts as Ikhlas ran Yaqeen out of the building by 6-2 score and Emaan routed Haya by a 5-1 score.

Three Stars of Week One:
1st Star: Umair Awan (Ikhlas) - 3 Goals, 1 Assist, GWG
2nd Star: Wakaas Khan (Ikhlas) - 1 Goal, 4 Assists
3rd Star: Farooq Sani (Emaan) - 2 Goals, 1 Assist

- Haya knew they were in for a challenge in Week One missing key players but being without Waqar Khan, Salman Khalid, Junaid Mohammad and Humza Hussain was a mountain too big but they rest of the team did well to only lose by a 5-1 score considering the skill and leadership they were missing.

-After Week 1, Wakaas Khan leads the scoring leader with a big 5 point performance against Yaqeen. After his game he was driving around Cambridge proclaiming he is their King, tormenting his car pool mates (Umair Awan, Atif Mian and Sajid Khan).

- Shukr may have lost in week one but the team is clearly shaping up to be filled with stories of young players who are lining up with their ball hockey heroes.  During the draft it was Samad Hamidi who was shocked that Nauman Abbasi slipped to the end of the first round and is now getting to play on the same team.  After Week One, Emaad Khan was getting to know his new teammates and was telling a story about an Imam who was wrongfully tied to a controversy during the recovery efforts in Texas only to learn that he was speaking of his line mate, Ibrahim Hindy.  

- After Week 1, Wakaas Khan leads the league in scoring, we are all used to a Khan being up there - just that it’s always Waqar Khan.  A player from Haya commented that we seem to be entering the “Upside Down” world so see Wakaas putting up a five-point night.

-Yaqeen gave up 6 goals against Ikhlas in their opener - more than how many shots they generated against their opponent (5).

- Back to Waqar Khan, there were rumours that after Samad Hamidi broke down how to contain Khan in the Week 1 preview, he wanted to skip the game to try and work in new elements to his skill set.

- Rookie goaltender, Fahad Mohammed got a shutout in his first I-slam Hockey game.  He only faced eight shots but did well to turn them all away.

- Haya is being hit hard early this season as there are rumblings that Humza Hussain is done for the season as he sustained a back injury prior to the draft that is not healing. 

- We only have Week 1 in the books but observers are circling October 13th in their calendar (Friday the 13th no less) as it will feature Haya vs Ikhlas.  A match-up that was referred to as Cambridge One vs Cambridge Two a few seasons ago.

Fall Season - Week One - September 15th

- Fall Season kicks off this Week!  Emaan won the Championship last season and the bulk of their roster was reunited on Haya this season so big things are expected there.

- Watching the Draft, many observers had the same feedback: How many times did Samad Hamidi mention Nauman Abassi?  Now that they are teammates it will be interesting to see Hamidi be on the same team as clearly one of his favourite players.

- Will Salman Alvi go on streaking?  After lifting the Alvi curse last season, teams are no longer scared in drafting Salman. Does he now start a winning streak?

- Tahir Maarouf is described to be a Yousuf Solimon type of player (on that note we wish Drake a speedy recovery and hope to see him next season).  Maarouf considers himself a Jose Bautista lookalike, perhaps explaining his constant consumption of Booster Juice.

- Did you see Ahmad Mobin flip that tire? He seems to be more motivated this year to reclaim a championship after losing in the finals.

- Salman Khalid and "Boom Boom” Waqar Khan are expected to miss games this season.  In the long run will this hurt their team’s playoff chances as only Top 5 out of the 6 make it.

- Two goalies make their league debuts this week: Ahmed Jamal (Ikhlas) and Fahad Mohammed (Sabr).

- Why do Mehmed Rizvanovic and Aazar Zafar always end up on the same team?

- Trade rumours between Emaan and Yaqeen?  Everyone assumes that Emaan want Rizwan Malik, Yaqeen want Idris Kalair.  Anything can happen but trades can be difficult to pull off.

- Samad “Cherry” Hamidi knows how to stop Waqar Khan and shared the secret in his Weekly Preview, now that teams know how to shut him down - how will Khan react this week?  Rumours are that he is concerned to the point of considering sitting out this week to adjust his game.

- Reminder for players that a Minimum of Three games played in order to qualify for the playoffs.

Spring Season - Week Thirteen - May 19th

- Then there was one, Emaan completed a sweep of Sabr to take the Spring Season Championship.

Three Stars of the Week:
1st: Umair Awan (Emaan) - 2 Goals, Game Winning Goal
2nd: Furqan Salam (Emaan) - 1 Goal, 2 Assists
3rd: Luqman Arshad (Sabr) - 1 Goal, 1 Assist

- Emaan built up a 2-0 lead at the half and with 10 minutes left in the game were up 4-0.  They let their foot off the gas and for a talented team like Sabr it was a big mistake as Sabr scored three quick goals to make it a 4-3 game.  Arif Bijabhai potted an empty netter with 1:23 left to seal the game and crown Emaan as Spring Champions.

- Emaan’s victory broke the well advertised curse for Salman Alvi who lifted his first Championship, Samad Hamidi and Yusuf Kapoor also won for the first time.  The Cambridge squad seems to be the place where players go to win their first title as Kashif "Coach K" Taqiuddin infamously won his first championship with the majority of this group a couple of seasons ago.

- Before the game the Regular Season Awards were handed out, here are your winners:
THE NASEEM BUTTAR GENERAL MANAGER’S AWARD:
- Taqwa GMs: Yasir Hussain & Saajid Bhayat

BEST DEFENSEMAN:
- Adil Patel - Taqwa

BEST GOALTENDER:
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

PLAYER'S CHOICE AWARD:
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

REGULAR SEASON MVP:
- Adil Patel - Taqwa

PLAYOFF MVP: * subject to change
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

- To sum it up, Yusuf Kapoor cleaned up winning Best Goalie, Lowest Goals Against, Players Choice and Playoff MVP.  This on top of winning his first Championship - a great night for the young goaltender.

- Here is your 2017 Spring Season Champions, Emaan

Spring Season - Week Twelve - May 12th

- Last week Emaan came out firing on all cylinders with an impressive 6-2 victory over Sabr.  Emaan now leads the best of 2 series 1-0 and this result makes it three straight wins for them over Sabr.

Three Stars of the Week:
1st: Waqar Khan (Emaan) - 2 Goals, 2 Assists, 1 PP Goal, 1 SH Goal
2nd: Umair Awan (Emaan) - 2 Goals, 1 Assist
3rd: Saleem Malik (Sabr) - 1 Goal, 1 Assist

- Will the curse of Salman Alvi come to an end tomorrow?  For a refresher, Salman Alvi has yet to reach the summit of I-Slam glory. Skill and effort are never in doubt with Alvi as he has played a pivotal part in many successful teams throughout the years. However lady luck hasn’t been on his side. Has his fortunes finally turned?  Hey why not?  We have witnessed Leicester City, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Cubs and even Donald Trump.  So this might be the year where the unpredictable is the predictable

- On the flip side, Rizwan Malik of Sabr has gone as far as to publicly guarantee a win for his team in Game Two on Facebook.  When asked, many of his teammates agreed and said that they would make the greatest comeback in league history.

- Firasath Ali notched a goal for Emaan last week leaving critics perplexed as to why he hasn’t considered playing up as a forward more often.  Sure Salman Khalid did a lot of the heavy lifting going coast to coast and creating the chance but Ali was able to provide the finish.

- Sabr’s Ahmad Mobin has vowed to better this week after surrendering 6 goals on 11 shots.  In 2014 he haunted TMT in the semi-finals but fast forward to 2017 TMT has made him look like a ghost in net.  He will need to rewind the clock to help support Rizwan Malik's bold prediction

- Postgame, Sabr seemed stunned by the result but confident about what needed to happen to win this series.  A common sentiment was that the team owed their fan base more after the poor Game One performance but they would make good as "A Malik always pays his debts."

Here are the Finalist for the 2017 Spring Awards (in alphabetical order):
*Awards to be handed out before the finals so if you are a finalist please show up!

THE NASEEM BUTTAR GENERAL MANAGER’S AWARD:
- Emaan GMs: Adeel Awan & Furqan Salam
- Sabr GMs: Saleem Malik & Naiem Malik
- Taqwa GMs: Yasir Hussain & Saajid Bhayat

BEST DEFENSEMAN:
- Adil Patel - Taqwa
- Luqman Arshad - Sabr
- Salman Khalid - Emaan

BEST GOALTENDER:
- Ahmad Mobin - Sabr
- Khalid Mufti - Haya
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

PLAYER'S CHOICE AWARD:
- Dawood Ciombar - Sabr
- Naqeeb Shaikh - Taqwa
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

REGULAR SEASON MVP:
- Adil Patel - Taqwa
- Dawood Ciombar - Sabr
- Waqar Khan - Emaan

PLAYOFF MVP: * subject to change
- Ali Malik - Sabr

- Dawood Ciombar - Sabr

- Saleem Malik - Sabr

- Umair Awar - Emaan

- Waqar Khan - Emaan
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

We already know the winners of the following awards:
Overall Points Leader: Waqar Khan (Emaan) 19 points
Overall Goals Leader: Adil Patel (Taqwa) & Dawood Ciombar (Sabr) 10 Goals
Khalid Raheem Lowest GAA Award: Yusuf Kapoor (Emaan) 1.30

Let’s not forget about the one trophy that will have everyone’s attention... As it stands at the moment, it is closer to Cambridge and might be there at the end of the night unless Sabr makes good on their guarantee.

Spring Season - Week Eleven - May 5th

- Week 10 saw Ihsan punch their way to the semi-finals by grinding out a win over Haya; Sabr doubling up against Taqwa to win by a score of 4-2; Emaan taking care of business against their rivals and defending champions Ihsan with a dominant 4-0 win.

Three Stars of the Week:
1st: Furqan Salam (Emaan) – 2 Goals, 1 Short-handed, Game Winning Goal
2nd: Osama Soliman (Ihsan)- 2 Goals, Game Winning Goal

3rd: Ali Malik (Sabr) - 1 Goal, Game Winning Goal

- Emaan has seen the injuries pile up as the season has progressed, some more obvious with GM Adeel Awan and Abdu Sharkawy moving with crutches but they have been paying a price for their recent wins.  Waqar Khan was supporting a large welt on his arm after blocking a shot, Zuhair Fancy was knocked out of the semi-final game after being hit from behind into the end boards and failing medical clearance to return to the game.  Umair Ashraf has been battling fitness issues while Samad Hamidi and Sadiq Rehman have been playing with lower body injuries.  Winning comes with a price and Emaan has been paying their bills on a weekly basis.

- The finals will be a match-up of the top two teams from the regular season along with the usual game within a game match-ups.  Akib Malik is one of the best two-way players in the league and will likely be counted on to cover Waqar Khan.  Yusuf Kapoor and Ahmad Mobin have been in a duel for the top goalie all season with Kapoor getting the edge in Wins, Goals Against and Save Percentage but its the Championship that they are both vying for now.

- Sabr wanted to face Taqwa in the semi's rather than Ihsan, feeling that it was a better match-up for them so winning their semi-final spared the team from a great deal of criticism for dropping the game against what they perceived to be a weaker opponent.

- Emaan managed to finally defeat their rivals Ihsan in the semi-final with a dominant 4-0 win despite being in penalty trouble for much of the game.  The last four regular season meetings had Ihsan winning two and getting a tie in the other two so Emaan had to be pleased with finally getting the win.  They made a point to "Controlla" Yousuf Soliman and keep him from making an impact on the game.

- After locking in their spot for the finals and watching Ihsan get eliminated, players from Sabr could be overheard proclaiming that the Soliman dynasty was over, and this was the dawn of the "Age of the Malik's"

Awards - 2017 Spring Nominations (in alphabetical order):

Regular Season MVP:
1. Adil Patel (Taqwa)
2. Akib Malik (Sabr)

3. Dawood Ciombar (Sabr)
4. Furqan Salam (Emaan)
5. Junaid Mohammad (Yaqeen)
6. Mehmed Rizvanovic (Haya)
7. Naeem Akhter (Haya)
8. Waqar Khan (Emaan)
9. Yousuf Soliman (Ihsan)

Top Goaltender:
1. Ahmad Mobin (Sabr)

2. Kaunain Saiyed (Yaqeen)

3. Khalid Mufti (Haya)

4. Yasir Hussain (Taqwa)
5. Yusuf Kapoor (Emaan)

6. Zaid Majoo (Ihsan)

Best Defensemen:
1. Adil Patel (Taqwa)
2. Arssal Shahabuddin (Haya)
3. Jibraan Salam (Emaan)
4. Junaid Mohammad (Yaqeen)
5. Farrukh Khan (Ihsan)
6. Naeem Akhter (Haya)
7. Naiem Malik (Sabr)
8. Luqman Arshad (Sabr)
9. Salman Khalid (Emaan)

Player’s Choice Award:
1. Aamir Hanif (Sabr)
2. Aazar Zafar (Haya)
3. Abdu Sharkawy (Emaan)
4. Ahmad Kaiss (Ihsan)
5. Ahmad Mobin (Sabr)
6. Dawood Ciombar (Sabr)
7. Farooq Sani (Taqwa)
8. Jibraan Salam (Emaan)
9. Mohammed Hamoud (Yaqeen)
10. Munaf Nathalia (Taqwa) Write-In
11. Naqeeb Shaikh (Taqwa) Write-In
12. Sadiq Rehman (Emaan)
13. Saqib Khokhar (Taqwa) Write-In
14. Sulmaan Azmat (Haya)
15. Usamah Rao (Sabr)
16. Yusuf Kapoor (Emaan)

General Managers of The Season:
1. Emaan: Furqan Salam & Adeel Awan
2. Haya: Naeem Akhtar & Fahad Mallik

3. Ihsan: Yousuf Soliman & Farrukh Khan

4. Sabr: Saleem Malik & Naiem Malik

5. Taqwa: Saajid Bhayat & Yasir Hussain

6. Yaqeen: Arslan Mian & Humza Chaudhry

As the season is drawing to the end we would like to thank the GMs, all of the volunteers and
players who made continue to make this league a success.