Spring Season - Week Seven - March 9th

- Emaan and Sabr started the night with a wild game that ended in a 3-3 draw, Shukr and Ridha followed with a 1-1 tie in close checking game, Yaqeen won a big game against Ihsan 4-2 while Ikhlas got their first win of the season defeating Ikhlas 3-2.

Three Stars of the Week:

1st - Waqar Khan (Sabr)
2nd - Shoaib Bhatti (Yaqeen)
3rd - Fahad Mohammad (Shukr)

Mecca Conference :

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Yaqeen	6	3	2	1	7	15	12	3
2	Emaan	6	3	2	1	7	16	19	-3
3	Shukr	6	2	1	3	7	9	6	3
4	Ikhlas	6	1	4	1	3	7	15	-8

Note: 4^th place does not qualify for the playoffs   

Medina Conference:

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Sabr	6	4	1	1	9	15	10	5
2	Haya	6	2	2	2	6	9	11	-2
3	Ridha	6	2	3	1	5	16	11	5
4	Ihsan	6	2	4	0	4	14	17	-3

Note: 4^th place does not qualify for the playoffs   

- Sources say Aazar Zafar of Emaan might be out for the entire season, look for updates in the coming week as Emaan has been on a run of late and will need the hustle that Zafar brings.

- Ikhlas made a big trade during the week and the result was their first win of the season as Nadeem Faqiri gave the team a big boost in his debut. 

- Haya was not as fortunate as their new acquisition Shuaib Hussein had a strong effort with a pair of assists but his team was on the wrong end of a 3-2 score against Ikhlas.  Hussein would have wanted to do better against the team that just traded him but could not carry his team to a win.

- With all of the trades occurring last week, most felt Yaqeen came away as clear cut winners and vaulted themselves into the championship conversation.

- Tonight will be an interesting matchup between Yaqeen and Sabr where traded players will be playing with a little bit more motivation as they face their former squads.

- Speaking of Sabr, they may need Samad Hamidi to work on that shower schedule as their lockerroom reportedly ran out of hot water after their game last week.

- Currently, Waqar Khan of Sabr leads the league in points (13) and goals (7), a rare feat to lead in both categories and Khan seems to have found his scoring touch after last season where he struggled.  Many thought that the loss of his linemate and brother-in-law Furqan Salam would impact his performance but it has been the opposite.

- Yaqeen went into their game against Ihsan without a win in their previous two games but put together a solid effort that resulted in the win.  The new additions to the lineup acquired via trade made a difference but it was the return of veteran Shoaib Bhatti that was the biggest boost as he potted two key goals and his deft touch around the net was key for the win.

- Everyone loves Ray? Emaan teammates insists that Rayhan Malik is misunderstood and is a great locker room guy.

- Shukr continues to struggle as they are now winless in three with just a goal over that period.  Something needs to click for this team to have a chance but one thing is for sure, they will be happy when the cross division games are finished and its easy to see why.  Undefeated within their divisional games, winless against cross divisional games.  

- Ihsan was pleased that despite all of the injury woes they have suffered this season they were able to get star goalie Ahmad Mobin back.  He said that his knee felt fine and was happy to be back out there helping his team down the stretch for a playoff spot.

- Did you hear about tension in the <fill in team name here > locker room?  If you didn't then you aren't paying attention because all of them are stressed, the playoff race is tightening up and everyone is feeling the pressure to get into the post season.

Suspension:
Mehmed Rizvanovic (Shukr) has been suspended one game for leaving his teams bench and confronting an opposing player.  While no physical altercation occurred this is a reminder to players to always stay on the bench whenever there is an altercation.

Waiver Wire:
Ihsan’s Ahmad Chaudhry injured his hamstring in the 2nd half against Yaqeen and has been replaced by Ali Wadee.  The injury woes for Ihsan appear to be back sadly.

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Spring Season - Week Six - March 2nd

- Week Five saw Sabr open the night with a 3-1 win over struggling Ikhlas, Shukr and Haya end in a scoreless draw, Ridha crush Yaqeen 6-1 and Emaan win their second game in a row to jump up into first place in the Mecca Conference.

Mecca Conference :

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Emaan	5	3	2	0	6	13	16	-3
2	Shukr	5	2	1	2	6	8	5	3
3	Yaqeen	5	2	2	1	5	11	10	1
4	Ikhlas	5	0	4	1	1	4	13	-9

Note: 4^th place does not qualify for the playoffs   

Medina Conference:

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Sabr	5	4	1	0	8	12	7	5
2	Haya	5	2	1	2	6	7	8	-1
3	Ihsan	5	2	3	0	4	12	13	-1
4	Ridha	5	2	3	0	4	15	10	5

Note: 4^th place does not qualify for the playoffs   

- Emaan has made a surprising run as they have suddenly jumped to the top of the table while observers are shocked as Ikhlas continues to struggle.

- GMs may have confused the NHL Trade Deadline with the Spring Season Trade Deadline with five trades occurring over less than 24 hours keeping the League Office busy!  Here is a list of all the player movements:
1. Sabr trades Hannan Ghafoor to Haya for Ibrahim Khan
2. Sabr trades Saajid Bhayat and Taha Azhar to Yaqeen for Naiem Malik and Faisal Mehboob
3. Huzaifa Panchbayah cleared waivers and will replace injured Idrees Deen of Yaqeen
4. Yaqeen trades Nadeem Faqiri to Haya for Yasser Habib
5. Haya trades Nadeem Faqiri to Ikhlas for Shuaib Hussein

- Ahmad Ibrahim has embraced his new alter ego, wearing all black last week and dominating Yaqeen with a three-point performance including two goals.  After scoring his first of the night (and the eventual game winner) he turned to the crowd to celebrate with a "Wakanda Forever" salute.

- With all of the trades this past week, the league social media team suggested that teams invest in name tags - an usual reality for GMs that decided to tinker with their lineups.

- Sabr's locker room has a unique dynamic now as Faisal Mehboob is dubiously known for his longer showers post game, something Waqar Khan also does.  We assume a game of rock, paper, scissors will decide who gets to go first.  That or Samad Hamidi is going to have to draw up a shower schedule for the team to keep things moving.

- A piece of unique league trivia that many are not aware of is that Yaqeen’s Emmad Khawaja got Ahmad Ibrahim into ball hockey and into I-Slam - making Khawaja the “Boom-Boom” for Ibrahim. Last week the two were on opposite ends where Ibrahim muscled his way through Khawaja sending him flying. It was rumoured before the game Ibrahim was chanting “I accept the challenge”. After the game, Ibrahim was reported to have advised Khawaja that the student was now the master.

- Initially, we all thought the reason why Haya’s GM Abdul-Wahab Mohammad drafted Nadeem Faqiri was so he could have a shisha buddy.  Last season while running Sabr almost his entire team would go out after and hang out (not so much this season).  But Mohammad put those rumours to bed when he traded Faqiri to Ikhlas for Shuaib Hussein.  Some were surprised by the trade but insiders believe that the Special One has made a key acquisition to jump start his teams offense.

- The Shuaib Hussein experiment did not work out well for Ikhlas and based on where they are in the standings had to make a deal to try and shake things up.  One wonders if they look back with regret on claiming him off waivers and losing defensive rock Sadat Malik as compensation.

- After games last week there was a lot of chatter about possible trades with many expecting Ikhlas to make some moves to try and spark their talented lineup.  Enter Sabr who started Sunday with a "hold my Gatorade" comment before a pair of deals.  It is highly unusual that a first place team would make two trades while on a three game winning streak but Sabr has added some physical presence to their team with the transactions. 

- In a good news story, at least for Ihsan, Ahmad Mobin is expected to return tonight after getting injured in the first half of his teams opening game.  His teammates are hoping things won't look like this tonight.

- Samad Hamidi was sick the past couple of days, so unfortunately no video preview from him this week. 

- The Yousuf Soliman and Waqar Khan rivalry continues tonight.  Three seasons ago it was Soliman who won the championship with Boom Boom winning the past two.  Expect to hear a lot of Drake jokes during the game tonight.

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