Week 16 - January 16th

- Tier-1 has a Champion as Ihsan defeated Taqwa by a 4-0 score in Game Three of the finals to take the championship.  Ihsan got goals from their second and third lines in this game which was what propelled them to the title as their top line was shut down.

Here they are, your 2014-2015 Tier One Champions - Ihsan:

- Taqwa put up a good fight but were missing key players Sami Choudhry and Mohammad Bilal who were not available to play.  They had others try and step up but it was clear that rotating players into unfamiliar positions impacted the teams ability to push the ball up and generate goals.  That said they did fire 32 shots at Ihsan keeper Ali Khwaja who put on a show with some spectacular saves in the shutout.  Ironically Khwaja was Taqwa's goalie in last years T1 finals so he gets his ring at the expense of his old teammates.

- Ihsan seemed to be trying to sabotage their lead in the game as they had a parade to the penalty box giving Taqwa ample opportunities on the power play but Ihsan's PK Unit (or more notably the aforementioned Ali Khwaja) held their ground.

- Taqwa's Zaid Toorawa has been taking some ribbing for his shirt ripping debacle (see here or here if you missed it) but to his credit seems to be taking it all in good stride with a smile.  Zaid seemed less effective in Game Three but had he been able to recreate the energy he brought in the Semi-Finals and Game One of the series, Taqwa may have been able to win.

- For Ihsan they had a number of heroes that got them the championship, Tariq Ayubi for one was playing through a painful knee injury and is reported to be undergoing a procedure on his knee this week demonstrating his grit to play though the injury.  Ali Wadee indicated that he too was playing through injury but being out of shape doesn't really count so....

- Ihsan's championship was also the first for both Ibrahim Hindy and Faraaz Alvi who were both emotional after the game taking it all in after so many years chasing a ring - reportedly they were taking turns with this celebration yell.  Hindy has played in every season since the league began so Ihsan's win has a feel-good thread to it.

- The Tier-2 Finals kicked off with Haya taking Game One by a 1-0 score.  A relatively tight game but Haya dominated most of the play and got the late winner off a great solo effort from Aazar Zafar who turned a faceoff deep in the Zuhd zone into an unexpected goal.

- Haya players talked after the game about how they were displeased with the score and expected to win by more considering how they controlled the game and outshot Zuhd 25-15.  Considering they were without Mehmed Rizvanovic and still controlled the play shows just how deep they are.  In fact Haya was so confident in their depth that they put their third line out for the final minute to close out the game and the third line stepped up shutting Zuhd down to hold the 1-0 win.

- Some unconfirmed controversy for Zuhd involves Saqib Sheikh as he missed Game One of the finals and was accused of missing the game to grab a meal at Denny's...let's hope this one isn't true because...well nothing should ever be prioritized below Denny's.

- Haya goes into Game Two this week needing just a tie to lock up the championship but assuredly they will be looking to put a stamp on their season with another big win over Zuhd.  Their job may be a bit tougher without Coach K behind the bench as he took an early celebration trip to Hawaii.

Week Fifteen - January 9th

- Game Two of the Tier-1 Finals was another interesting one, the game ended with a 5-3 final score but does not reflect how fast and close this game really was.  Ihsan opened the scoring just 39 seconds into the game only to have Taqwa tie it up 31 seconds later.  Ihsan then went on to score two goals in 12 seconds and added another to make it 4-1 going into the half with all the momentum.  Yet Taqwa made it a 4-3 game before Ihsan got an empty netter to clinch it.  A bounce here and there and this could have easily have been another overtime game.

- Taqwa must be feeling a bit of deja vu from last season where they won Game One of the Finals and drop Game Two forcing a third game - last year they lost Game Three in OT so they will hope to change that this time around.

- Ihsan looked unstoppable in stretches in Game Two and when they put up three goals in a row in the first half and led some observers thinking the game was on the verge of turning into a blowout.  Taqwa managed to get their team defense back in order but Ihsan got some great jump from their second and third line which helped them build an early lead.

- Taqwa lacked a jump from their third line in Game Two which can be traced to the absence of Zaid Toorawa who was in Detroit watching the Raptors game.  Toorawa has become a YouTube sensation thanks to this clip.  

- Game Three is expected to be a great game to determine a winner, Taqwa is rumoured to be missing some players which will hurt them but considering all the great talent that they have they are still in great position to win it all.  A key for Taqwa is composure as they have taken some terrible penalties in the playoffs and the poor discipline has cost them.

- Shaukat Khan of Taqwa has been having himself another fine playoffs with four points in three games and having won the Regular Season scoring title.  He has been a constant threat to score and as long as he is involved for Taqwa they have a great chance to win it all.

- Back to Zaid Toorawa for a moment, is it strange that he seemed so comfortable with having another man rip his clothes off?  An equally disturbing thought is how he has taken a number of Road Trips with Waseem Bangash - so one wonders if the two have ever been caught on the "Kiss Cam" and how they handled that situation.  Here is another angle on his failed shirt rip that went viral on FailTube.  Let's hope he can redeem himself this week in Game Three.

- For Tier-2 we now have our finals match-up of Haya versus Zuhd in a rare (and possibly first time ever) match-up between the First and Second seeds from the regular season in Tier-2

- Haya steamrolled Ridha in their semi-final game with a 4-0 victory that never seemed in doubt.  Ridha was trying to keep it tight and limit the chances for Haya but postgame, Coach K talked of his strategy to break the Ridha defense and that he did as his team scored four goals in the first and while they tried to state that they wouldn't run up the score the stats show something entirely different as they directed a total of 39 shots at Ridha goaltender Yasir Hussain, an astonishing amount and a testament to his strong performance at stopping Haya's attempt to embarrass his team.

- Zuhd squeaked out a 2-1 OT win over Ikhlas in a game that could have gone either way (as OT games often do).  Zuhd keeper Rizwan Ali bailed his team out of many jams with some big saves and it was an OT winner from Abdu Sharkawy early into OT that had his team advance as he chopped in a rebound from a Huzaifa Manjra shot.  Ikhlas was not able to finish their chances in close (and hit the post a few times) which cost them this game.

- Zuhd will need some big performances if they want to claim the championship, some secondary scoring from Manjra would be a benefit if he isn't too busy starting up his Bollywood career.

- Ridha saw their season end short of their final goal but looking back they made a great run as early in the season they had been written off and their GM group criticised for giving up on Nadeem Qureshi when he was traded away.  They had the last laugh as they earned some big wins and the final playoff spot.

- The (surprisingly) much-followed saga about Shoaib Bhatti and his retirement decision gave fans something to hold onto for Ridha.  Bhatti has been quiet on his final retirement decision but did take his family to Disney World over the break - it is not clear if he had planned this trip to celebrate his retirement or as an early celebration for a championship,  We will let his fans know if we hear something about the status of this veteran.

- Ikhlas fell short of their Championship goal but a couple of bounces and they would be in the finals.  With some strong talent and a good team approach they were competitive all season but a pair of key injuries hurt them during the season where points were dropped and lost them the first place berth they desired to have an easier path to the finals.  In a One-Game playoff anything can happen and post-game a few of their players acknowledged that they felt the game was theirs for the taking.  Credit should be given to their GM Team who drafted a strong team despite picking last in the draft for the first five rounds and built a solid third line which was key to their success all season.

- Speaking of Ikhlas, one player may be pleased that he won't have to see his name in this column anymore as Atif Mian seemed to come up regularly.  Whether it was his adoring fans, his knack for losing equipment or his great season he always found a way to make it in.  Seriously though, someone buy him a label maker so he can mark his things and find his equipment faster.

- Three players from Ikhlas and Emaan from the Spring season have the dubious honour of losing in the Semi-Finals in OT both seasons.  Khalid Mufti, Zuhair Fancy and Umair Ashraf seemed to be forlorn post game as the sting of this OT loss was piled onto the misery and lost chance for redemption from the spring.

- On a more positive note, Zahid Merchant and Usamah Rao won together with Tawakul last Fall and then with Ikhlas in the Spring however face each other in this years finals.  One will have their streak stopped at two while the other will have a personal three-peat.

- Players from Haya said going into the finals this was the match-up they wanted, despite their success against Ikhlas in the regular season they feared the experience and potential of Ikhlas more than Zuhd.

Week Fourteen - December 19th

- Game One of the Tier-1 Finals was a close one that saw the teams exchange goals in the first period and then turn into a defensive battle the rest of the way with Taqwa emerging as the winner after a shoot-out.  (Video Recap Pending)

- Taqwa was missing offensive dynamos Osman Buttar and Mohammad Bilal as well as Captain Naveed Mohammad for Game One so winning the game while missing key players was big.  A lot of credit for the win should be given to their third line of Danial Umar, Erfan Bhanapatel and Zaid Toorawa who manufactured the teams first goal with a great bit of hustle on the forecheck.  The trio was sound defensively and gave Taqwa a boost when they needed it most.

- Ihsan will be left looking for answers after dropping Game One, they had all their key players except for Mustafa Alam who booked his trip to Disneyland to celebrate a championship a bit too early.  In the penalty shootout Sajjid Ayubi and Usama Mahmood were both stopped which is not something you would expect.

- The Tier-2 playoff picture settled with each game played impacting the standings.

• Haya demolished Ikhlas by a 7-3 final score, with the win Haya jumped to first
• Ridha defeated Shukr by a 1-0 score to clinch the final playoff spot
• Zuhd defeated Yaqeen by a 3-1 score to jump into second place

- The Ridha vs Shukr game had a large crowd in attendance last week, Ridha was missing Imran Lakhanpal and Faheem Kotwal but still managed to grind out the 1-0 win.  The added nuance to this game of Talib Contractor vs Nadeem Qureshi (who were traded for one another between the teams earlier in the season) did not disappoint - for Ridha anyhow.  Contractor worked to create the only goal of the game by using his size and speed to go into the corner with the ball and go behind the net where he centered it for Shan Abbasi who made no mistake.  Qureshi was not able to manufacture a goal for his team and Shukr is now done for the season.  

- Looking at Shukr its difficult to understand how they missed the playoffs because coming out of the draft (and after their first game) they looked like a solid team destined for a playoff run.  Sadly the wheels fell off quickly after game one where they did not win a game for the rest of the season.  While some seemed to think goaltending may have been where they would struggle, it was in fact Sadiq Rehman who kept Shukr from crashing out of the playoffs and giving his team a chance to make it right to the end.  Rehman posted the highest save percentage among goalies and it was in fact the Shukr offense that was the big letdown.  With so many talented offensive players it is shocking that the team averaged just 1.5 goals per game.  The team lost three games by a goal and tied four others, a better offensive performance with a goal here and there and Shukr takes those games and makes the playoffs.  If there was a game that (figuratively) broke their back it would be the November 21st game against Haya where they started the game shooting on an empty net but ended the game in a 1-1 tie.

- Yaqeen is another team that should have done better based on their draft but could not put it together - no secret on why they missed the playoffs though.  As good a team as they were on paper they actually needed players to show up to compete.  Yaqeen had one of the poorest attendance records over the season, missing players for almost every game which put them at a disadvantage before the game had started.  A great example was the final game of the season with just ten players showing up and then losing Qamar Mian to an injury early in the second - the rest of the game was a predicable loss for Yaqeen with another short bench.

- It seemed that all of Haya was watching the Ridha vs Shukr game and openly cheering for Ridha to get the win.  They explained it simply that as much as Shukr has struggled they have the players for an upset whereas Ridha would be easy to defeat and get Haya into the finals.  Considering that Haya crushed Ridha twice during the regular season and tied both games with Shukr so the logic makes sense.  With Haya already making plans for the finals they expected to face Zuhd there who they struggled against in the regular season but making for a great finals match-up.

- A lot has been made of Haya and "Coach K" but as he said, the results speak for themselves.  Haya took first place and only lost one game all season.  They scored the most goals by far, have the best goal differential and five of the top eight point scorers and five of the top eight goal scorers.

- Speaking of the top scorer, Waseem Bangash tied for the scoring lead with Amir Multani of Ikhlas and tied for the goal leader with Naeem Akhtar of Zuhd as well as teammate Aazar Zafar.  Bangash had a big game in Haya's season finale against Ikhlas with a goal and three assists (Note: there was some dispute about one of those assists).  Also, there was some question about Haya's display of sportsmanship as Bangash played heavy minutes towards the end of the match which was already a run-time blowout game.

- Naeem Akhtar on the other hand played the final game of the night and showed little interest in personal glory and did not push to get points against a depleted team in Yaqeen who had a short bench and came in knowing their season was over.

- The "Retirement Game" that Ridha's Shoaib Bhatti was potentially playing last week was delayed by his teams defeat of Shukr and advancing to the playoffs.  Now in a daunting match-up with Haya the question has been raised will Bhatti hang it up?  Rayhan Taqiuddin of Haya has already stepped up to say he's looking forward to shutting down Bhatti and ending his playing career.

Week Thirteen - December 12th

- A wild Tier-1 Semi-Final saw Taqwa advance at the expense of Emaan with a 2-1 win.  It was a close game from start to finish (video recap pending) which saw Emaan take an early lead after a great solo effort from Ahmad Hathout only to have Taqwa tie the game and take the lead with two goals in less than two minutes from Farooq Khan and Shaukat Khan.  Some poor discipline led to some players from both teams watching the end from the penalty box so hopefully lesson learned to let your play do the talking.

- It is hard to predict what will happen in a best of three finals between Ihsan and Taqwa, in the regular season series the four games were split with a win for each team and two ties.  Ihsan features the leading goal scorer for the season in Sajjid Ayubi while Taqwa boasts the leading point scorer in Shaukat Khan - Taqwa actually had four of the top five in the point leaders category.

- The last regular season game between these teams was a mess of a game (as predicted here) with no defense and all offense in a 7-5 shoot-out.  Both teams had nothing to play for except personal glory so the result was not a surprise.  It should be noted that Ihsan was missing two top defenseman among other players giving Taqwa forwards more room to operate so the finals should be a more conservative affair.

- Ihsan may have found some nice chemistry between Sajjid Ayubi and Ibrahim Hindy, the latter doing a lot of the dirty work and the former doing a lot of nice finishing.  It will be interesting to see how Ihsan sets their lines for the finals and whether they will attempt to line match with Taqwa.

- An interesting wrinkle, this years Ihsan squad features three key players from the Taqwa team that lost in the finals last season.  Yusuf Ingar, Ali Wadee and Ali Khwaja have all been big boosts for Ihsan this season.  Also these teams completed a trade earlier in the year as Junaid Mohammad was dealt to Ihsan for Erfan Bhanapatel.

- The Tier-2 playoff picture has gotten a bit wild, in the game between Zuhd and Haya (anticipated to be the finals match-up) the teams ended in a tie while Ikhlas defeated Shukr, unexpectedly propelling them past Zuhd and into a tie for first with Haya.  With Ikhlas and Haya meeting this week, Ikhlas has a chance to take first place which seemed highly improbably considering their poor play in the middle part of the season.

- The final playoff spot is still up for grabs with Ridha and Shukr facing each other this week, the math here is simple as Shukr has to win to advance as anything less will see Ridha claim the last spot.  Both teams have squandered chances to lock up the fourth playoff spot, notably Ridha with their 2-1 loss to Yaqeen last week.  A Ridha win over playoff eliminated Yaqeen would have locked everything up but Yaqeen relished the spoiler role and arguably played their best game of the season.

- There are many layers to the Shukr vs Ridha match-up, the winner going to the playoffs is obviously the big theme but these teams also made a big trade earlier in the season where they exchanged star players who were not fitting in.  All eyes will be on Talib Contractor and Nadeem Qureshi who were the main pieces in the deal but Ridha should be weary of Mujeeb Syed who has made an impact since moving to Shukr and will be looking to show that his old team made a mistake in dealing him.

- Shoaib Bhatti of Ridha has said to friends that his game against Shukr may be his last (if they do not advance to the playoffs) as he feels age has caught up with him.  Its been a rapid decline for the one time Most-Improved-Player who has a hand in the record for most goals in a game with four.  One of his friends joked that if a player from Shukr could be identified as also contemplating hanging it up then their game would be considered a retirement match - or a Pink Slip on a Pole match for you wrestling fans out there

- Waseem Bangash was held pointless for the first time this season in Haya's game against Zuhd, Naeem Akhtar managed to pick up three points in that same game and now leads the league in scoring.  The lanky defenseman has been the heart for his team both offensively and defensively and last week had to cover for teammate Fahad Mallik who was creating offense for both teams - his own with his shot and Haya with his giveaways

- Atif Mian from Ikhlas has had a solid sophomore campaign for his team, his finishing is still a work in progress but his hustle has been recognized by his team with greater playing time and promotion to the top line.  That said he seems to lose equipment on a regular basis and theorized that one of his teammates may have an unhealthy obsession with him.

- Speaking of Ikhlas, their GM Group has constantly praised their 2nd and 3rd lines as being the reason the team has had success.  With the various absences and injuries over the season it has been this depth that has kept the team afloat.

Week Twelve - December 5th

- The Tier-1 Playoffs are here!  It was a tight game right to the end last week between Sabr and Emaan with the latter emerging as the winner and moving on.  Sabr gave it a great effort but came up just short which shouldn't take anything away from a tough season which saw them riddled with injuries and player absences that they were not fully able to overcome.

- The Semi-Finals are a rematch between Taqwa and Emaan who faced each other in this game last season.  Taqwa emerged as the winner that time but this year have had issues with Emaan as they struggled in three games between the teams and could only manage a tie and two losses.

- The match-up between Ihsan and Taqwa last week was predicted to be just a game about personal goals and what happened was pretty much that.  A game that ended in a 7-5 win for Taqwa saw some big games from various players and the scoring title change hands as Sami Choudhry was surpassed by teammate Shaukat Khan.

- Sajjid Ayubi defended his goal scoring title as he scored nine goals in nine games and had two goals while paired with Ibrahim Hindy who seemed more amicable to doing the dirty work and setting up Ayubi to finish than his usual linemate in Usama Mahmood.

- Ihsan had already clinched first place so they get to sit back and wait to see who they will face when the dust settles between Emaan and Taqwa.  The break will be a benefit to them as a number of their players have various injuries so they get an extra week to heal.  A few weeks ago Ihsan GM Tariq Ayubi pleaded with Omar Sabri and Ali Wadee to not get hurt (although he only seemed to be looking more at Sabri when he said that) playing I-Slam Basketball and his worst fears were almost realized this past Sunday.  In a game which their team won, Sabri knocked down Wadee going up for a rebound and then almost landed on his face.  Wadee would later laugh about seeing Sabri's large foot about to stomp his face - incidentally both have been key to their basketball teams undefeated start to the season.

- Emaan's Furqan Salam was widely mocked (more by his teammates than anyone) for his name being on the side of a milk carton - stats don't lie as two assists in 10 games won't cut it especially after the spring season where he put up 24 points in 10 games.  Perhaps he should emulate his teammate Waqar Khan who makes an impact both offensively and defensively for his team.

- The Tier-2 playoff picture is getting a bit clearer as now Haya, Zuhd and Ikhlas have all clinched a spot and none can fall below third place.  With Yaqeen's loss to Ikhlas last week they have been eliminated but still get to partake as a playoff spoiler the rest of the way.  That leaves two teams jostling for the final spot:

• Ridha - they face Yaqeen this week who have just had their playoff hopes dashed and are now shifting into spoiler mode which may be a boost as the pressure is off now.  Ridha's season finale is against Shukr which will likely decide who grabs the final spot
• Shukr - this week they face Ikhlas who have just clinched a playoff spot and are now tied for second with a slim chance to move into first.

- Ridha has made an amazing push by winning three of their last five games when they seemed destined to crash out of the playoff picture weeks ago.  Last week they managed a big win over Zuhd by a 4-2 final score.  It should be noted that Zuhd started the game with an empty net and Ridha was clinging to a 3-2 lead when Rizwan Ali finally stepped between the pipes.

- The brain-trust of Shukr came out to watch that Ridha vs Zuhd match-up and were lobbying for Zuhd to use one of the Tier-1 goalies who had just played and commented it wasn't fair that Zuhd would have to play with an empty net - until it was pointed out that they didn't have an issue with that situation when the week before they played Haya who was without a goalie for the first five minutes of the game where Rayhan Taqiuddin stepped in and only let a power play goal get by him.

- Back to Yaqeen, a tough season that many would not have predicted but if you look at the number of absences over key games it starts to make sense.  A team cannot win when attendance isn't consistent as chemistry can never be built.

- Naeem Akhtar was held pointless last week, much to the joy of Haya's Waseem Bangash who was in attendance and watch as he remained in a tie for the scoring lead with Akhtar.  Yet while he remained in a tie with Akhtar, they were joined in a three-way tie by Amir Multani of Ikhlas who had a big game in his teams 6-2 defeat of Yaqeen.  

- Many are predicting this week's match-up between Zuhd and Haya to be a preview of the Tier-2 Finals as it features some of the top scorers and deepest rosters in the league.  With the expected return of Haya's top players as well as "Coach K" it should be a great one to watch.  The last meeting between these teams was a dramatic one as Haya held a 6-4 lead with five minutes left but a collapse saw Zuhd score three times with the winner coming with just 10 seconds left in the game.  Haya will want to show that they are the better team and exact some revenge on Zuhd who are the only team to defeat Haya this season.

Week Eleven – November 28th

- The Tier-2 Trade deadline passed without a move, in part because some of the top teams seemed content with their rosters and partially because other teams seemed to forget that the deadline was upon them and could not come to an agreement at the 11^th hour.  A blockbuster was in the works between two teams but ran out of time to complete.

- The roller coaster season for Sabr continues as they looked on the outs a few weeks ago but a critical win over Ihsan last week has put them in a position where is they defeat Emaan this week then they will grab the last playoff spot.  If Emaan wins or the game ends in a tie then it is Emaan who will move onto the post season. 

- The season series is tied with each team getting a win and tie so hard to predict what will happen in this one.  One would expect Sabr to have the edge with their experience but Emaan has played well and it was their miraculous comeback win over Sabr on November 7^th where they scored three times in the last 100 seconds to take the win that most will remember going into this game. 

- Looking at these two teams, they each have one star who has struggled this season, and we are talking about Yousuf Sowdagar of Sabr and Furqan Salam of Emaan.  Sowdagar has zero points in eight games while Salam has just two assists in nine games.  Much more is expected of both of these players who have had a rough go this season, let's see who can be found first:

- The other Tier-1 game this week features Ihsan and Taqwa, both have clinched a playoff spot already with Ihsan taking first and getting a 1^st Round bye while Taqwa will await the survivor of the Sabr/Emaan tilt.  With all that said there doesn't seem much to play for here, or is there?  Scoring titles are probably the main focus in this one, Sami Choudhry leads the league with 15 points with teammate Shaukat Khan sitting at 14 points.  Meanwhile Sajjad Ayubi leads the league with 7 goals with teammate Usama Mahmood and Taqwa's Mohammad Bilal each have 5.  With team goals already met let's assume the focus will shift here to personal accomplishments so look for a wide open affair as players try to grab some personal glory.

- The Tier-2 Playoff picture is starting to clear up as Haya and Zuhd have already clinched spots while Ikhlas needs just a point from their last three games to grab the third spot.  That leaves Shukr, Ridha and Yaqeen all fighting for the final spot so let's break it down for each:

• Shukr – Two games left against Ikhlas and Ridha, both will be tough games if you go with the glass half full approach with Shukr winless in their last seven games and the glass half full approach isn't much better with undefeated in their last three with three ties. 
• Ridha – A tough loss to Ikhlas last week but they still control their own fate with games against Zuhd, Yaqeen and Shukr left.  This may all boil down to their final game of the season against Shukr which would be a delicious match-up considering the teams traded their stars to each other in an earlier blockbuster deal this season.
• Yaqeen – It's been a tough season for a team many expected to be much better than they have played.  That said they still have a chance to make the playoffs but must win their final three games against Ikhlas, Ridha and Zuhd and get help with Shukr and Ridha losing all their remaining games.  It will not be easy but this is their path to the playoffs.

- Shukr goalie Sadiq Rehman was disappointed in his play for his team last week, an observer noted that his team has tied their last two games by a 1-1 score and he has been the lone bright spot in both.  Shukr has struggled offensively as of late and were it not for the heroics of Rehman would not be holding onto the final playoff spot.

- Haya has been steamrolling teams all season but their last two games both ended in a tie so perhaps some tweaking is required.  That said they have been missing a number of players over the last few weeks yet are still winning so likely nothing to worry about.  Coach K was away for the last two games so when he returns, Haya will likely start blowing opponents out again.

- The Tier-2 scoring race has gotten interesting, Waseem Bangash was head and shoulders ahead of the competition but Naeem Akhtar has come on strong as of late with 9 points in his last 4 games.  The result is that both Bangash and Akhtar have 8 goals and 14 points this season but Akhtar has an extra game so anything can happen.

- In the Haya vs Shukr game last week, Haya was already playing short some of their stars (and star coach) and started the game without a goalie.  Just to make things even more interesting they took a penalty just 7 seconds into the game giving Shukr a power play and shooting onto an empty net.  Yet from all of this, in stepped Haya defenseman Rayhan Taqiuddin who protected the empty net for the first five minutes of the game only allowing a single goal to Nadeem Qureshi.  It's never easy to cover an empty net but Taqiuddin got the job done until Yusuf Kapoor finally arrived.  Taqiuddin then shifted back onto his regular position on defense and helped his team shut down the Shukr forwards.

Week Ten - November 21st

- The Tier-2 Trade deadline is this week but with many trades already having taken place earlier in the season there isn't much activity expected. 

- Two weeks ago Sabr was out of the playoffs but was not in a dire situation, fast-forward to today and strangely they still control their own fate but have little margin for error.  First up is this week against Ihsan where they need at least a point leading to their regular season finale against Emaan which will be a must win game.

- Sabr has baffled observers as the last two weeks have seen them collapse in the final minutes in both games.  Two weeks ago Emaan scored three goals in the final 1:40 turning a 3-1 lead into a 4-3 loss for Sabr.  This past week Sabr held a 1-0 lead but surrendered two goals in the final 57 seconds.  It is hard to imagine this championship veteran team not being able to hold a lead but all the injuries they have suffered have clearly taken their toll.

- We mentioned Ali Wadee and his return to I-Slam Basketball and this past weekend he and Omar Sabri lined up together and showed some great chemistry that Ihsan will hope will transfer to hockey as well.

- Unsurprisingly considering all the offensive talent in their line-up, Taqwa has three of the top five scorers in Tier-1 including Sami Choudhry and Shaukat Khan taking the top two spots.  Sajjid Ayubi has a game in hand over both and with all three players facing off in the regular season finale it will be interesting to see who will finish at the top when the season is done.

- Despite having two games left to play, Ihsan has already clinched first place in Tier-1, it has been season of redemption for the Ihsan GM group after missing the playoffs last season.  To their credit they drafted a well balanced team and the risks that they took with younger players like Omar Husain and Yusuf Ingar have worked out.  Ali Khwaja has also been a rock in net, leading the league in Wins, Goals Against Average, Save Percentage and Shut-outs – basically every category that matters. 

- Taqwa stamped their ticket to the playoffs with their comeback win over Sabr last week, after having lost in the finals last season with an epic collapse of their own, (blowing a 3-0 and later a 4-2 lead) it was sweet redemption to break the hearts of Sabr with two goals in the final 57 seconds to win 2-1.

- For the first time in a while all Tier-2 Teams will be in action this week, some good games are on the docket but the big head-to-head match-ups are later in the season.

- It was billed as a must win game for both teams but it was Ridha who took it as they downed Yaqeen 4-2 last week, Talib Contractor had two goals in his debut and gave Ridha the jump they have been missing most of the season.

- Yaqeen came out of that loss to Ridha hurting but with a chance to still make the playoffs but cannot afford to keep dropping games; that said they were missing a number of players last week that did not help their effort against Ridha in a big game

- Speaking of Ridha, many noticed the extra jump in the game of Farooq Sani last week.  While it was the league's worst kept secret that Sani was desperate to play with his friend Talib Contractor, many were unsure how the two would play together but the results were clear after one game - Contractor with two goals and Sani with a goal and an assist which were his first points of the season.  An observer commented that the trade would turn around the season for Sani and called Ridha's deal with Shukr simply as "How Sani Got His Groove Back"

- Ikhlas has been hot and cold this season, literally as they were hot for their first three games and now cold as they are winless in their last three.  They put up eleven goals in the first three games and five goals in their last three so their offense needs to step it up.

- Haya faces Shukr this week in a game where Shukr will want to show that their late collapse was not a pattern against the top teams in the league.  Haya will reportedly be playing without Arif Khan, Aazar Zafar, Zahid Merchant, Fuzail Thakur and Coach K.  All of them a big loss in any game.  The good news for Haya is that Waseem "The Dream" Bangash will still be there, he reportedly rearranged his travel plans to attend the game.  Cynics may say it is because he wants to win the Scoring Title along with Goal Title but under Coach K, Waseem seemingly has evolved into a leader who wants team to do well.

- Mujeeb Syed turned heads in Shukr's game against Ikhlas, Shukr brass insisted he had to be part of the Contractor deal and it is clear why.  He was Shukr's best forward last week using his speed and tenacity to create chances for his team.  Look for him to make his mark in this week's game against Haya, he'll also be looking to show up Haya's Rayhan Taqiuddin who flattened him when these teams met two weeks ago - Taqiuddin was defending Bangash from Syed's physical play in that game. 

- Ridha needs more production from their 2nd line, a player like Shoaib Bhatti needs to give them some scoring punch and considering he was the Most Improved Player a couple of seasons ago and is tied for the record of most goals in a game with four, he should be doing better than just a goal in five games this season.