Fall Season - Week Two - September 21st

- We move to Week Two games after a one week hiatus, the season opened with Taqwa hanging on to defeat Ridha 2-1 to start the night, Haya making a late comeback to earn a 2-2 tie with Ikhlas, Yaqeen sealing their 5-2 win over Emaan with a pair of empty netters and Sabr dominating Shukr for a 2-0 win.

- Some housekeeping notes for those new to the league, gloves and a CSA Approved helmet are mandatory. We do strongly suggest players wear a visor or full cage as well. Please be ready to play as early as 10 minutes before the schedule start time of your game and when entering the arena remember to sign-in on the game sheet with your jersey number so the arena can accurately capture the game statistics. Please ensure to write your name and jersey number neatly or risk your points going to the wrong player.

- Changerooms will have locks provided, please ensure to return the lock and key to the front desk when your team is done.

Three Stars of The Week for Week One:
1st Star: Maaz Haq (Yaqeen) - 3 Goals and 1 Assist
2nd Star: Ali Khawja (Sabr) - Shutout
3rd Star: Arif Bijabhai (Yaqeen) - 3 Assists

Here are your Divisional Standings going into Week Two:

Mecca:

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Sabr	1	1	0	0	2	2	0	2
2	Ikhlas	1	0	0	1	1	2	2	0
3	Haya	1	0	0	1	1	2	2	0

Medina:

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Yaqeen	1	1	0	0	2	5	2	3
2	Ihsan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Emaan	1	0	1	0	0	2	5	-3

Jerusalem:

RANK	TEAM	GP	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	POINTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Taqwa	1	1	0	0	2	2	1	1
2	Ridha	1	0	1	0	0	1	2	-1
3	Shukr	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	-2

- For fans questioning the somber mood of Samad Hamidi during the Hamidi Report this past week, he is still shaken after watching his beloved Ottawa Senators implode with a series of questionable trades over the past year - culminating with their trade of Erik Karlsson for five cents on the dollar.

- Sabr came out flying in their opening game, the benefits of bringing back much of their Spring Season Championship team as they rolled over Shukr for a 2-0 win.  Shukr made a point to lock up Ahmed "Black Panther" Ibrahim however could not contain Abdu Sharkawy who netted the insurance goal for his team along with some physical play which earned him time in the box but set the tone for his team.

- Haya turned some heads in their Week One game, while a tie isn't something teams would take notice of - it does when a team is missing so many key players and still puts up a big effort and takes points from a game.  The reason so many of their stars were missing was due to the wedding of former I-Slam participant Jibraan Salam.

- Ihsan makes their debut this week after having a bye in Week One, the pressure will be on GM Huzaifa Manjra to show that his draft strategy of focusing on unknown players was the right one to build a winning team.

- If you somehow missed it, here are some of the Video clips the league has put up to start the season:

- Live Draft

- Post-Draft Analysis
- Draft Behind the Scenes

- Listen in on our First League Podcast! Belal Hafeez of Shukr drops in with some health and fitness tips:

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

Fall Season - Week One - September 7th

Welcome to the 2018 I-Slam Hockey Fall Season!  

- Some housekeeping notes for those new to the league, gloves and a CSA Approved helmet are mandatory.  We do strongly suggest players wear a visor or full cage as well. Please be ready to play as early as 10 minutes before the schedule start time of your game and when entering the arena remember to sign-in on the game sheet with your jersey number so the arena can accurately capture the game statistics.

- This season is the most competitive season we have had to date! With the increased level of competition along with nine teams all battling for the I-Slam Cup.  The nine teams were split up into three divisions - Mecca (teams that had the 1st, 4th and 7th picks), Medina (teams that had the 2nd, 5th and 8th picks) and Jerusalem (teams that had the 3rd, 6th and 9th picks). 

Mecca:
1. Haya (Grey): Salman Khalid and Waqar Khan

2. Ikhlas (Green): Haris Mallick and Mehmed Rizvanovic

3. Sabr (Yellow): Shaukat Khan and Mohammad Bilal

Medina:
1. Emaan (Orange): Yasser Habib and Mazhar Hussain

2. Ihsan (Teal): Huzaifa Manjra and Naeem Akhtar

3. Yaqeen (White): Fahad Mohammad and Maaz Haq

Jerusalem:

1. Ridha (Blue): Abdul Rahim Manjra and Mohamed Kazi

2. Shukr (Red): Arslan Mian and Humza Chaudhry

3. Taqwa (Black): Dawood Ciombar and Humza Ali

- The division alignment was decided before the draft so division each team ended up in was random and raised the always interesting specter of the "Group of Death" which many observers feel is the Haya/Ikhlas/Sabr grouping.

- In terms of the overall regular season schedule each team plays the other two teams in their division twice and one game against the other six teams (4+6=10).

-Playoff Format will be the division winner automatically making the playoffs with the top three seeds with the next three playoff spots to be determined by the overall standings with fourth, fifth and sixth place teams making it in.  The bottom three teams are eliminated to every game matters!

- To be eligible for the playoffs you need to play a minimum of three games in the regular season.

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

Have you seen the following recent additions to our Media Channel?
1. Draft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkWQfsL7GVk
2. Post-Draft Analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zBkhEOZKV8&t=9s
3. Behind The Scenes (*Must See): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vKgguZFDac&t=25s

Some interesting tidbits from the Draft:
1. Emad Hussain became the first Auto Pick in the history of the draft as the Emaan GMs had to leave late in the draft and asked that the next highest player in the draft sheet be selected to their team, fortunately for them Hussain was that man and he was able to guide them the rest of the way while being a solid addition to their roster - so the general fear in fantasy sports about autodrafting a team may be the reverse in real life.
2. Prior to turning on Autodraft, Emaan selected new to the league Emran Singh saying his name would fit well into their Malton heavy roster

3. Sabr and Haya both seemed to be using their draft prep sheets from earlier seasons as each team selected many player from earlier championship teams.  Not a bad strategy to bring back winning pedigree but in a talent heavy draft like this one sometimes being less sentimental about picks is a better approach.

4. Ridha seemed to either be heavily confident in the skills of the Ingar family or confused about which one was the best to select as their first three picks were Yusuf Ingar, Yahya Ingar and then Farhan Ingar and fifth pick was Umair Ingar - one of them has to pan out.

- Best of luck to all players and teams and remember that this season games will be played at The Hanger!

Spring Season - Wrap Up

- And the season is over after an exciting finals that went down to a shoot-out to determine a champion!

- Mohammad Bilal scored a beauty of a goal in the shootout to give Ridha the Championship.  The team was on their heels for most of Game Two and found their star players in the box far too often which hurt their chances but with the pressure on they came up with the winner.

Your 2018 Spring Champions - Ridha

- Ali Khwaja was the clear Playoff MVP as he stood on his head throughout the playoffs to keep his team in games or just outright steal them.

- A great run by Emaan came up just short, their GMs were questioned about their strategy right after the draft but the team had good balance and their team was carried by their second line whose hustle always kept opponents on their toes and wore down defenders.

- Shaukat Khan picks up his first championship, a strong season from the star forward carried this team offensively at times and his efforts were rewarded with his first ring.

- An observer noted that Emaan may feel like they got the short end of the stick losing the Finals in a shootout but it took a shootout to get them here as they upset top seeded Shukr in the Semi-Finals in a shootout.

- The season of the "Black Panther" finally comes to a close, Ahmed Ibrahim embraced his alter ego to give a physical presence in front of the net and his ever improving awareness around the goal helped him set new personal bests offensively.

- Thanks to everyone for another successful season, InshAllah we look forward to seeing all of you back in the 2018 Fall Season!

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

Spring Season - Week Fourteen - May 4th

- Last week saw Game One of the finals played where Ridha emerged with a win, all but stealing it in the final minute as Imran Lakhanpal played the hero as he snapped in a rebound with just 37 seconds left to give his team the win.  

Three Stars of the Week:
1st Star: Ali Khwaja - 25 saves
2nd Star: Imran Lakhanpal - 1 Goal, 1 Assist, Game Winning Goal

3rd Star: Mohammad Hamoud - 1 Goal

- Emaan had to come out of the game last week feeling like a championship was not written for them.  Ridha was missing Shaukat Khan and Emaan completely outplayed their opponent but were unable to get the winner past Ali Khwaja who stood on his head.

- Sometimes it is the little mistakes that come back to haunt you, Emaan took a too many men penalty with 1:12 left to play, Ridha went to the power play and Imran Lakhanpal stepped forward as the hero, snapping in a rebound to give his team the win.

- Both teams have to focus on Game Two now, Emaan comes in needing to win in order to force Overtime.  They have to be familiar with that scenario having escaped it themselves in the SemiFinals where they won Game One over Shukr only to lose Game Two and barely advance to the finals.  Now Emaan has to come out strong against Ridha to force Overtime where anything can happen.

- Ridha is hoping for a repeat of some magic from years ago when Imran Lakhanpal and Ali Khwaja were teammates on Haya and won the Championship together.  Together again and on the verge of a championship and in both that Haya and this Ridha teams both players were key contributors.

- You never know what rumours to believe but there are unconfirmed reports that Mohammad Hamoud and Hany Soliman may not play tonight for Emaan.  We could say we will know for sure when the ball is dropped but the Soliman's are not one for timeliness and may run into the arena late like the last man entering the ring during a WWE Royal Rumble.  

- Abdu Sharkawy was singing the praises of teammate Ahmad "Black Panther" Ibrahim after their Game One win.  Ibrahim deserves the praise as he has put in the work to improve his game and fitness - an inspiration for others to follow regardless of whether you are playing hockey or not.  Sharkawy may have gone too far in his praise, kissing Ibrahim on the cheek during their interview and then referring to themselves as the Arab Version of Twins.  Perhaps not thinking through that this comparison made him the much weaker of the two.

- Before the Championship game we have a Mecca vs Medina All-Star game planned!

-The Mecca conference comes in as favourites as some top-end players from Medina dropped out of the game and that was before all of the weather alerts for May 4th. Medina had to even borrow some players from the other conference to field a team!

- Anyone who isn't hyped up for the finals should check out the video produced by Arif Khan of Haya.  He was kind enough to put together something with the footage he took from Game One of the Finals!

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

Spring Season - Week Thirteen - April 27th

- Week Twelve of the season saw the end of the Semi-Finals and what an end it was!  Ridha started the night defeating Sabr 3-0 to sweep their series while Shukr grinded out a 2-1 win to force overtime which solved nothing and to have Emaan emerge the winner in a penalty shootout.

1st Star: Hany Soliman (Emaan) - 2 goals in the shootout (see our Instagram for clips)
2nd Star: Ali Khwaja (Ridha) - Shutout win
3rd Star: Black Panther (Ridha) - 1 Goal, Game winning goal

- Some may call it bitter grapes, but Faisal Mehboob (Sabr) has predicted that Ridha’s offense will dry up when they need it the most play during the finals.  Ridha had enough to eliminate Sabr and Emaan isn't exactly a high scoring team so this prediction seems misplaced but during the last game of the regular season, Ahmad "Black Panther" Ibrahim did the Wakanda salute against Sabr’s backup goaltender after scoring which ruffled some feathers.

- One observer expects fireworks in the finals, noting that there are a high number of hot-blooded Arabs in the game.  Many remember the infamous "Arab Spring" team from a few seasons ago that imploded and those were teammates - lets hope for less of that when they are opponents.

- Reported Farrukh Khan (Ridha) is the guy who keeps his team pumped up in the Ridha WhatsApp group

- Some considered the Emaan draft strategy flawed to bring back so many familiar faces from their 2016 Ihsan championship team, but those pundits are watching the finals from the stands now so Emaan can have the last laugh there.

- Ridha fans felt that their dominant win over Sabr showed that the gamesmanship from Sabr during the regular season finale to have Ibad Khan dress as a forward and put Hammad Khan in net backfired and motivated them to step it up when the teams met.

- Kaunain Saiyed (Emaan) this is your time to shine! Not sure why he was the last goaltender picked in the draft. This was the second straight season he was clutch in the semi-finals in the shootout to send his team to the finals and he has a chance to make it back to back championships. If he continues to win, it is safe to say he won’t be the last goaltender picked in future drafts.

- Shukr had to feel burned after their shootout loss to Emaan in the Semis, Game One was Osama Soliman scoring a hat-trick where it seemed like Shukr was trying to set him up - turnovers that ended up in the back of the net.  Game Two they played much better and earned the win, Overtime solved nothing although they had some chances to win it only to have Hany Soliman score twice in the penalty shootout to have Emaan advance.

- The format of the Finals will mirror that of the Semi-Finals, best of two and if the teams split the points after both games then it goes to sudden death overtime and then a penalty shootout.

- Emaan superpest Rayhan Malik will surely attempt to get under the skin of some of Ridha's star players.  Ridha needs key players like Shaukat Khan and Mohammad Bilal to ignore Malik, perhaps turning to teammate Arif Bijabhai for advice who found a way to ignore Malik and succeed under the pressure.

- It was good to see Abdu Sharkawy play last week, we assume he medically cleared himself through the nagging injuries he has picked up these playoffs.  Ridha will need him to give his standard strong effort at both ends of the arena to succeed in the finals.

- It felt like Waqar Khan was on a Lebron James type of run for making it to the finals each season - that run ended as top ranked Sabr crashed out against Ridha.  The team was missing Naeim Malik on the blue line and was unable to cover that gap up which led to their undoing.

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

Spring Season - Week Twelve - April 20th

- Week Eleven of the Season was also Week One of the playoffs and started with a pair of wildcard games which saw Emaan open the night with an upset of Yaqeen 3-1 while Ridha defeated Haya 5-3.  The semifinals had Game One played the same night with Emaan continuing their strong play defeating Shukr 3-1 while Ridha also continued their winning ways by defeating Sabr 2-1.

3 Stars of The Week:
1st Star: Osama Soliman (Emaan) - 3 Goals vs Shukr, Game Winning Goal and Shorthanded Goal
2nd Star: Shaukat Khan (Ridha) - 2 Goals vs Haya
3rd Star: Yusuf Soliman (Emaan) - 2 Goals vs Yaqeen

- Yaqeen was favoured going into their game against Emaan having a win and tie against them in the regular season but injuries and some penalties disrupted their game plan and saw the lower seeded Emaan pull off the 3-1 upset win.

- Haya won their regular season finale to punch their ticket to the playoffs and felt that they had momentum going into their wildcard game against Ridha which was only further amplified when they scored just 17 seconds into the game as Farooq Sani found the back of the net but Ridha tied it up just 24 seconds later to make it clear they were not going to let Haya pull away.  A back and forth game with was tied 3-3 with 14 minutes left in the game ended with a pair of Ridha goals punctuated by Ahmed "Black Panther" Ibrahim scoring with 2:24 left to give his team a critical two-goal lead and the eventual win.

- Shukr came out flat against Emaan and paid the price dropping their semifinal game by a 3-1 score.  Emaan played a much more physical game as they roughed up Shukr forwards making them tentative to head to the front of the net.  Osama Soliman was the difference as he scored three goals, with some amazing individual effort to get his team the win.  Each of his goals showcased his elite skills, the first goal using the defenseman as a screen, second goal was shorthanded where he was stopped on a breakaway but did not give up and overpowered two Shukr defensemen to score and the final goal where he went through a Shukr defensemen to get a breakaway to seal the game.  You can see two of his goals in this video, taken by one of Emaan's fans.

- The Ridha vs Sabr game was closer but after their dominant win over Sabr to end the regular season Ridha came in with some swagger and it showed.  The gave up the first goal but responded to tie it up just 39 seconds later and then stuffed Sabr's offense and controlled much of the play eventually getting the winner from Shaukat Khan with 8:48 left in the game which they held onto.

- After their big night, Emaan was feeling pretty good about their chances to make the final and the clip above sums up their night as Shukr had no answer to the dominant effort put forth by Osama Soliman.  Emaan's high tempo game is hard to shut down and Shukr will have to do better than they did in Game One were Soliman was able to run free.

- Ridha may have the win from Game One against Sabr but seem to have paid a price as Ahmad Ibrahim reportedly hurt his ankle, sources say he will play and Ridha will need the Black Panther there as his physical presence cannot be understated for Ridha to have success.  Abdu Sharkaway is also dealing with a back issue and possible injured kidney after taking a cross-check from Yousuf Sowdagar.

- Unconfirmed reports that Ahmad Ibrahim politely declined an invitation to attend the Smile Gala because he did not want to sit at the same table as Faisal Mehboob.  Friday nights at Moods are more than enough it seems.

- An unexpected result with the two First place teams in each conference dropping the first game of the Semi-Finals while the two "tired" teams showed more hustle to get the win.

- Tonight both Sabr and Shukr enter the night in a must win situation, in the two-game Semi-Final format, the team that will advance needs to earn more points.  This means that Ridha and Emaan hold the drivers seat having won Game One meaning that the only way for Sabr/Shukr to extend the series would be to win Game Two which will force a five-minute sudden death OT and if nothing is settled after that then a shootout.  A tie tonight does nothing so if Sabr/Shukr do not come out strong with an all-out effort their season is as good as done.

- Polls have been made available on the leagues Twitter and Facebook feeds so have your say!

- League insiders are picking Sabr to make a comeback as Ridha will be hard pressed to contain the leagues top two scorers in Waqar "Boom-Boom" Khan and Yousuf Sowdagar down for two games in a row.  The same insiders do not see a path for Shukr to make the finals, they looked flat in their game last week and Emaan is on fire right now and seem completely in control of this series.

I-Slam Hockey 2018 Award Nominations:
This is a two-stage process where GMs nominate players for the ballot and once all the nominations are in voting commences. Remember these awards below only reflect regular season performance:

Regular Season MVP:
___ Ahmad Ibrahim (Ridha): 5 Goals and 7 Assists
___ Ali Khwaja (Ridha): .914 sv%, 1.44 gaa, 2 s/o, 5 wins
___ Emmad Khawaja (Yaqeen): 6 Goals and 4 Assists
___ Fahad Mohammad (Shukr): .933 sv%, 1.11 gaa, 1 s/o, 5 wins
___ Ijaz Chaudhry (Ihsan): 10 Goals and 4 Assists
___ Kaunain Saiyed (Emaan): .842 sv%, 2.51 gaa, 0 s/o, 3 wins
___ Khalid Mufti (Haya): .870 sv%, 2.10gaa, 3 s/o, 3 wins
___ Maaz Haq (Shukr): 3 Goals and 6 Assists
___ Luqman Arshad (Ikhlas): 1 Goal and 3 Assists
___ Waqar Khan (Sabr): 10 Goals and 8 Assists
___ Yousuf Soliman (Emaan): 4 Goals and 4 Assists

Best Defense Man:
___ Arssal Shahabuddin (Shukr): 1 point
___ Emmad Khawaja (Yaqeen): 10 points
___ Farrukh Khan (Ridha): 3 points
___ Ijaz Chaudhry (Ihsan): 14 points
___ Luqman Arshad (Ikhlas): 4 points
___ Mohammed Hamoud (Emaan): 7 points
___ Naiem Malik (Sabr): 7 points
___ Nazeer Gafoor (Shukr): 4 points
___ Sahil Mohammad (Haya): 2 points
___ Shehryar Khan (Ridha): 10 points

Top Rookie:
___ Adam Younis (Shukr): 1 Assist
___ Bilal Khan (Ridha): 1 Assist
___ Humaiz Shahid (Shukr): 4 Goals and 1 Assist
___ Omar Ibrahim (Yaqeen): 1 Assist
___ Sami Zahur (Haya): 0 points
___ Tayyab Kalair (Ihsan): 2 goals and 1 Assist
___ Yousef Elsohemy (Emaan): 2 Goals and 5 Assists
___ Yousuf Chatha (Ikhlas): 0 points

Best Defensive Forward:
___ Abdu Sharkawy (Ridha): 10 points
___ Adam Younis (Shukr): 1 point
___ Ahmad Kaiss (Emaan): 4 points
___ Akib Malik (Ikhlas): 6 points
___ Amir Hanif (Shukr): 2 points
___ Farooq Sani (Haya): 10 points
___ Jawad Majeed (Ihsan): 1 point
___ Mohammad Bilal (Ridha): 7 points
___ Saajid Bhayat (Yaqeen): 3 points
___ Waqar Khan (Sabr): 18 points

Top Goalie:
___ Ahmad Mobin (Ihsan): 0 W, 2.95 GAA, .814 sv%
___ Ali Khwaja (Ridha): 5 W, 1.44 GAA, .914 sv%
___ Fahad Mohammad (Shukr): 5 W, 1.11 GAA, .933 sv%
___ Ibad Khan (Sabr): 4 W, 1.88 GAA, .884 sv%
___ Kaunain Saiyed (Emaan): 3 W, 2.51 GAA, .842 sv%
___ Khalid Mufti (Haya): 3 W, 2.10 GAA, .870 sv%, *lead league in shutouts (3)
___ Yasir Hussain (Yaqeen): 4 W, 1.80 GAA, .882 sv%
___ Yusuf Kapoor (Ikhlas): 1 W, 2.61 GAA, .844 sv%

ALL-STAR GAME ANNOUNCEMENT:
The Mecca vs Medina All-Star game is tentatively scheduled for Friday May 4th which will be Championship Night. It will feature players of the teams that did not make the finals. In order to qualify for this game players would have had to played at least six games during the regular season. Below is the list of players who made the all-star team based on their regular season play. Please note this can change depending on which teams are in the finals, where players on the wait list will make the team.

Medina All-Stars:

Player	Position	Team	Starter
Waqar Khan-Captain	F	Sabr	Y
Yousuf Sowdagar-Assistant	F	Sabr	Y
Ahmad Ibrahim	F	Ridha	Y
Ijaz Chaudhry- Assistant	D	Ihsan	Y
Naiem Malik	D	Sabr	Y
Shehryar Khan	F	Ridha	N
Farooq Sani	F	Haya	N
Abdu Sharkaway	F	Ridha	N
Mohammad Bilal	D	Ridha	N
Junaid Mohammad	D	Ihsan	N
Ibad Khan	G	Sabr	Y

Wait List: Humza Ali; Arsalan Mian; Imran Lankhanpal; Khalid Mufti

Mecca All-Stars:

Player	Position	Team	Starter
Emmad Khawaja- Assistant	D	Yaqeen	Y
Maz Haaq- Assistant	F	Shukr	Y
Yousuf Soliman	F	Emaan	Y
Rizwan Malik	F	Shukr	N
Mohammed Hamoud	D	Emaan	Y
Nadeem Faqiri-Captain	F	Ikhlas	Y
Osama Soliman	F	Emaan	N
Hany Soliman	F	Emaan	N
Nazeer Ghafoor	D	Shukr	N
Luqman Arshad	D	Ikhlas	N
Fahad Mohammad	G	Shukr	Y

Wait List: Mehmed Rizvanovic; Yousef Elsohemy; Saqib Khokhar; Yasir Hussain

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