Friday, 1 November 2019

Fall Season - Week Seven - November 1st

- Week Six saw Sabr and Emaan end in a 3-3 tie, Taqwa defeat Ridha 4-2, Ihsan and Haya end in a 3- tie and Yaqeen defeat Ikhlas 4-3.

After Week Six here are the Divisional Standings:
MECCA
RANKTEAMGPWINSLOSSESTIESPOINTSGFGAGD
1Haya64021021912
2Ikhlas6321717125
3Emaan6321717134
4Taqwa61502819-11










MEDINA









RANKTEAMGPWINSLOSSESTIESPOINTSGFGAGD
1Sabr6303916124
2Yaqeen6312811101
3Ihsan61413815-7
4Ridha60422816-8
*Only the top three teams in each division make the post season.

- Check out the Media Teams review of Week Six and preview of Week Seven here.

- Haya went into Week Six expecting to clinch a playoff spot but were caught offguard by Ihsan who gave it their best effort and in a chippy game it ended as a tie.

- The third round of divisional games was an even split with a win for each division and a pair of ties.

- Everyone has been waiting for Ridha GM Farooq Sani to hit the panic button and make some trades but to his credit he has tried to work with the talented roster that was drafted.  They may need a tweak so perhaps a smaller trade to add some depth on defence is in order rather than moving one of his big names.

- With their season in dire shape and desperate for a win, Taqwa pulled off a smash and grab against Ridha for this first win of the season.  One of their better performances of the season against an equally hungry Ridha saw them pull out a win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

- Emaan has been on a tear of late and are undefeated in their last four games after dropping their opening two games of the season.  It will be interesting to see how they fare when divisional games return in Week Eight as it was their divisional opponents that gave them the most problems.

- Ridha shuffled some players around putting Naeem Akhtar on defence and trying to cover the absence of Emmad Khawaja who was out with an injury.  The did have a good game but were unable to generate enough quality offensive chances that they were able to convert on.

- Sabr continues to play well despite being without some of their strong contributors from early in the season but the team was drafted with the thought of bringing in versatile players who can fill in different roles when guys are away and that strategy has been what has kept them playing at a high level.

- Yaqeen is starting to pick it up at the right time as playoffs approach, Erfan Bhanapatel has meshed well with Abdul Manjra (his brother-in-law) and Arslan Mian.  Bhanapatel and Manjra had two goals each in their win over Ikhlas last week and were flying all game.

- Some familiar faces continue to appear in the stands as Maaz Haq has been showing up to coach and motivate his brother and friends on Ridha.  The talks have helped of late but not enough to get this team their first win.

- Haya reportedly came into their game with Ihsan a bit overconfident which may have cost them a point.  That said Ihsan played their best game of the season and could only scratch out a tie so perhaps they shouldn't be celebrating but taking the game as a step in the right direction.

- Opponents of Ikhlas are trying their best to limit the involvement from Adil Chohan and Yaqeen gave him a lot of attention but he still put up a goal and two assists.  Ikhlas needs to find a way to keep the pressure off their all-star or they could find themselves chasing more games as he has been carrying the team in their wins with support.  When the rest of the team goes quiet there is only so much Chohan can do to keep his team in games.

- For fans there will be a lot of attention on the opening game of the night as the two division leaders who are both undefeated will face off tonight.  Haya puts their 4-0-2 record up against Sabr and their 3-0-3 record.  Sabr has been hanging on of late trying to move pieces around to cover absences and injuries.  It will be interesting to see if those moves will work again against Haya who have a deep squad and boast the best offence in the league.

- With the roster freeze deadline approaching many GMs will be watching games tonight to determine if they need to make a big move or a tweak to their line-up to make a championship run.  It will be interesting to see how many moves are made with all of the rumours floating around of who is available and what impacts changes could bring.

- Reminder that while Eye Protection is not mandatory this season it is strongly urged that all players ensure to protect themselves.  There were some injuries last season where deflected balls hit players in the face and could have resulted in a serious injury to the eye.  Please take the time to consider your own personal safety and wear the appropriate eye protection.

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Friday, 25 October 2019

Fall Season - Week Six - October 25th

- Week Five saw Sabr defeat Ikhlas in a 5-4 shootout, Yaqeen grind out a win over Taqwa 3-2, Haya dominate Ridha for an easy 4-1 win and Emaan crush Ihsan 3-0.

After Week Five here are the Divisional Standings:
MECCA
RANKTEAMGPWINSLOSSESTIESPOINTSGFGAGD
1Haya5401918612
2Ikhlas531171486
3Emaan5320614104
4Taqwa50500417-13










MEDINA









RANKTEAMGPWINSLOSSESTIESPOINTSGFGAGD
1Sabr530281394
2Yaqeen52126770
3Ihsan51402512-7
4Ridha50322612-6
*Only the top three teams in each division make the post season.

- Check out the Media Teams review of Week Five and preview of Week Six here.

- Haya is in the unusual position of being able to clinch a playoff spot with either a win against Haya or Taqwa losing their game tonight.

- The second round of divisional games was an even split with two wins for each division after the Mecca division dominated the first week of divisional games.

- Ridha may be close to hitting the panic button at this point as they sit in last in the Medina division and GM Farooq Sani will have to do something to spark this team.  The most obvious need is for another defensemen to help on the back end which would allow Sani to move up to forward and hopefully spark the offence.

- While Taqwa has not been mathematically eliminated they are in the tough position of needed to win multiple games and get help in the form of their divisional opponents dropping points.  Possible but definitely a much more difficult path than they would have liked.

- Speaking of struggling offence, Yaqeen broke out of their offensive slump as they put three past the goalie to break their run of scoring one goal a game in the first four weeks.

- Haya has received amazing value from Sufyan Shaikh and Ali Haroon who are both in the top five in scoring thus far this season.  Another steal that deserves mention is Mohammed Qureshi who is averaging more than a point a game and is top-10 in scoring.

- Ihsan has seen their well regarded offence post draft fizzle into oblivion as they have now been shutout three games in a row.  Week Six they play Haya who have the leagues best defense (along with best offence) so things are looking down for the boys in red.

- The game between Taqwa and Yaqeen was interesting to watch as both teams have struggled and during the draft Taqwa GM Ali Wadee and Yaqeen GM Arslan Mian sat next to each other and seemed to be openly exchanging notes.  One would question what was on those notes considering how their seasons have gone but in their game last week it was the younger Greenbirds that had the last laugh over the older generation.

- Ridha's struggles are well documented at this point but in a team full of capable veterans it is surreal to watch and many are questioning where the veteran leaders are and some have asked what type of influence they are having in the locker room.  One veteran observers are looking for more from is Kashif Taqiuddin as Coach K has been notably silent this season and has struggled to put his mark on games.

- Sabr has been dealing with injuries as Ali Murtaza has been out since picking up a lower body injury in Week One and now there are reports that Emad Hussain and Vasim Kazi 

- The moves that Emaan made have sparked this team to have them moving up the table quickly and they are undefeated since the acquisition of Arif Khan who has five points in his first three games with the team.

- Imran Lakhanpal continues the trend of ex-Taqwa players to flourish with new teams as he scored a goal for Ikhlas last week.

- Sabr and Haya remain undefeated after Week Five and depending on what happens tonight these two could face each other without a blemish to open up Week Seven which will be a fun game to watch.

- One observer remarked that Taqwa is like the DC Universe movie franchise, lots of big names on paper but the final product is a disappointment to watch.


- Reminder that while Eye Protection is not mandatory this season it is strongly urged that all players ensure to protect themselves.  There were some injuries last season where deflected balls hit players in the face and could have resulted in a serious injury to the eye.  Please take the time to consider your own personal safety and wear the appropriate eye protection.

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Friday, 18 October 2019

Fall Season - Week Five - October 18th

- Week Four saw Haya defeat Yaqeen 3-1, Ikhlas crush Ihsan 4-0, Emaan steal a 2-1 win over Ridha and Sabr defeat Taqwa 2-0.

After Week Four here are the Divisional Standings:
MECCA
RANKTEAMGPWINSLOSSESTIESPOINTSGFGAGD
1Haya430171459
2Ikhlas430171037
3Emaan4220411101
4Taqwa40400214-12










MEDINA









RANKTEAMGPWINSLOSSESTIESPOINTSGFGAGD
1Sabr42026853
2Yaqeen4112445-1
3Ihsan4130259-4
4Ridha4022258-3
*Only the top three teams in each division make the post season.

- Check out the Media Teams review of Week Four and preview of Week Five here.

- The first round of divisional games showed how dominant the Mecca division is this season winning three of the four games over teams from the Medina division.

- Taqwa dropped another game last week, a tough one against Sabr where it was scoreless at the half but some late breakdowns saw Sabr score a pair late and get the win.  Taqwa seems to be trying to pull out all the stops as Osman Buttar showed up to help coach the team - sadly to another loss.

- Ihsan tried something new on the powerplay putting one of their larger defensemen in front of the net as a screen, a good strategy if you can control the ball and put it on net but Ikhlas was stronger on the penalty kill to snuff out their chances.

- Observers have pleasantly noted the form of Sufyan Sheikh who has looked strong this season and meshed with the style of play on Haya

- Some questioned Ikhlas brass when they named Abraar Gangat as captain as he is one of the youngest players on a team loaded with veterans.  The move has paid off as he scored a natural hat-trick and ripped apart the Ihsan defence despite arriving to the game after it had started.  It was noted that the Malton veterans may be doing this to pass the torch to the younger generation of Malton stars.

- The Ridha and Yaqeen offences are in need of something, anything to get on track.  Both teams are loaded with offensive players but neither seems to be able to get anything to work, Yaqeen scoring only four goals in four games while Ridha has managed five over their first four games.

- Some familiar faces were noted in the audience last week as Sufyan Kazi and Huzaifah Panchbaya were seen taking in some games.  They seemed to be impressed with the offensive explosion from fellow Rising Star Abraar Gangat.

- This was the first week since the season started where there as no trade activity but that can always change with a quick conversation between GMs.  Interestingly quite a few GMs were seen in deep discussion in what can only be assumed to be some type of trade talk.  In that regard there are some teams like Sabr, Ikhlas, Emaan and Haya that are unlikely to make any changes unless an offer they cannot refuse is put in front of their nose.  That leaves four teams that are likely to try and do something to turn their season around.
> Ihsan has made their big move but at a heavy cost, remains to be seen if they need to do something more to turn their season around
> Ridha was one of the top teams on paper coming out of the draft but has failed to generate enough offence to stay in games.  They already have a wealth of forwards so switching one out for a fresh face may spark something
> Yaqeen scarified one of their defensemen to obtain Erfan Bhanapatel and they may need to make a move now to shore up the backend
> Taqwa has already made moves but watch in horror as the players going out suddenly found their form.  The players coming in have helped to make the team more competitive but it remains to be seen how much time GM Ali Wadee will give his team before making another move

- Ikhlas has been a great surprise this season, a blowout win over Ihsan showed how strong they are but it was their goaltending that has gone without enough recognition.  When GM Mazhar Hussain grabbed his brother Yasir Hussain with the 38th overall pick there were murmurs of reaching too early for his elder brother but Yasir has more than paid back on where he was drafted.  He leads the league with a sparkling 0.75 GAA and .953 Save percentage.

- Reminder that while Eye Protection is not mandatory this season it is strongly urged that all players ensure to protect themselves.  There were some injuries last season where deflected balls hit players in the face and could have resulted in a serious injury to the eye.  Please take the time to consider your own personal safety and wear the appropriate eye protection.

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