Week Ten - May 1st

- Nine weeks completed and few would have predicted the roller coaster we have in store for the final week of the season.  Let’s start with what is fact to this point: Haya will finish first and Ikhlas will finish last.  That means that the remaining four teams are all pushing to lock down the final three playoff spots.

- For Playoff seeding when teams are tied, the ranking goes first by most wins, then head-to-head, then goal differential and then finally fewest goals allowed.  With four teams in play for the remaining three spots every game this week will have an impact on the final standings which will make for an exciting night.  Here are the match-ups and the potential impacts:

• 8pm - Ikhlas vs Ihsan: We already know that Ikhlas is done and Ihsan is currently clinging to the final playoff spot.  If Ihsan wins they are in for sure, a tie and they are waiting until the 10pm game as if Sabr wins they would claim fourth (more wins)
• 9pm - Shukr vs Haya: We know that Haya is locked into first place, Shukr is tied for second with Emaan and a win or even a tie will guarantee a playoff spot.  A loss and they are hoping for an Ihsan or Sabr loss to advance.
• 10pm - Sabr vs Emaan: Sabr is currently in fifth and only a win gets them as a tie combined with an Ihsan loss would still see Sabr out as Ihsan swept the season series and owns the head-to-head tie breaker.  Emaan is in the unbelievable position (considering the talent in their lineup) of needing a point to clinch; having just lost to Sabr last week the pressure is on Emaan now.

- Ikhlas is out but can play spoiler in this last week of the season as they look to disrupt Ihsan and their playoff push.  Ikhlas came out of the draft with the best goalie in Ibad Khan and a lot of great pieces to work with but things went sideways after being demolished in their first game by Emaan (aka Cambridge 2) and followed that up with another lopsided loss to Sabr.  With a rough start and numerous player absences along the way Ikhlas never really got going and some off years from key players hurt - their top three draft picks combined for a goal and an assist over the first nine games.

- Ihsan got a big 6-1 win last week over Ikhlas until you notice that they played against an empty net all game.  Kudos to Ikhlas for trying to keep it close and the various players that tried to cover the net.  Rayhan Taqiuddin was observed blocking a few shots and surely takes solace in that he shut down longtime friend Nadeem Qureshi who did not pick up a point in the game.  Ahmad Hathout however put up a four-point night to take over the scoring leader from Waqar Khan of Emaan.

- Last week Shukr did what they do best - tie games.  Haya came in with just three subs and after Luqman Arshad had a redirected shot hit him in the face, Haya was down to just two players on the bench for about 10 minutes while Arshad got patched up.  With the numerical advantage, Shukr was still unable to break Haya as Yusuf Kapoor made some big saves and Shukr managed to waste other opportunities with wide shots or turnovers deep in the offensive zone.

- The Emaan vs Sabr game had a scary moment when Umair Ashraf collided with a Sabr player and as he didn’t see his opponent had the wind knocked out of him.  After receiving some medical attention and a massage from Kashif Taqiuddin he was helped to his bench and received a round of applause.  He was able to finish the game in a limited capacity and Emaan will need him at full strength for the regular season finale.

- Sabr was in trouble a week ago, needing some help to give them a chance to make the playoffs, a week later they control their own fate as a win over Emaan in the last game of the season will get them in.  Emaan took an early lead and seemed poised to hold on and end Sabr’s season but then Zaid Toorawa took over.  Sure he got into a shouting match with teammate Mustafa Alam over an errant pass but Toorawa stepped up to score the go ahead goal for Sabr and then sealed the win with an empty netter from inside the defensive zone.  There were conflicting reports on his reaction after the goal as initially it was said he was calm but later reports suggested he turned to his teammates and stated “That’s why they got me here!  That’s what I do!”

- Many observers (including Emaan themselves) were shocked to discover that the team not only had yet to clinch a playoff spot but was in real danger of missing the playoffs entirely.  Winless in their last three games and now the team is feeling the pressure.

- Sabr was able to exploit the spacing of Emaan’s defensive set-up as they frequently had Atif Mian running slants through the neutral zone and with his speed he was able to create multiple offensive opportunities for his team.

- Back to Toorawa, Emaan Captain Waqar Khan noted that Toorawa plays the role of pest well and provided a game changing performance.  Toorawa has come a long way from the media circus he created around himself last season with this debacle.

Week Six - March 27th

- The undefeated streak for Shukr is over and not in a good way after a 6-1 mauling at the hands of Emaan.  Shukr started the game with only two subs (ended with four) and managed to take a surprising 1-0 lead before the wheels fell off.  Players veered from the strategy of protecting the ball and the results of that were anything but a surprise.  So just like that Shukr went from being undefeated to being the only team without a win.

- Waqar Khan was unstoppable as Emaan's captain led the way for his team.  He went into the corners, was first on every ball and crashed the net.  The net result of his effort was a three goal and three assist night.

- Haya continued their great start to the season as they rolled over Ikhlas to put their record at 5-0.  Rizwan Malik opened the scoring and set a goal later to continue his celebrated return but he continues to refuse to speak to the media postgame.

- Back to Emaan, some questioned how it was possible that Waqar Khan had six points and one of his wingers in Bilal Pervaiz had four points yet the other winger in Furqan Salam had nothing.  Salam uncharacteristically tight-lipped post game as he was unable to explain how he was shut down in a blowout game.

- The Ikhlas struggles continue, this time with a loss to 1st place Haya, Ikhlas held a 2-1 lead in the first before allowing a goal in the final minute of the half and then a goal in the opening minute of the second half to turn the game.  With the talent available on their roster their struggles are hard to understand but they need to turn things around before the season is lost.

- With the first half of the season gone, the standings are quite the story as with the exception of Haya who is far ahead at the top of the table, the separation between 2nd and 5th is just two points leaving little room for error for teams jostling for a playoff spot.

- In a strange twist, Emaan players watched the Ikhlas vs Haya game and were vocal in their support of Ikhlas, their Cambridge rival whom they demolished in both games this season.  Emaan was chirping various Haya players with Naeem Akhtar (or Naeem Malik as they were calling him) receiving the brunt of the jeers.

- Some observers commented that they were worried about Emaan goalie Sadiq Rehman who faced only nine shots from Shukr and seemed lonely in his crease with all the action consistently on the other side of the floor.  Rehman has played well this season but (with the exception of Haya) generally has not been tested this season to see how his wrist has healed from a pre-season injury.

Week Five - March 20th

- Just as quickly as Ikhlas seemed to be turning things around, another meeting with their Cambridge rivals ended with a 6-0 beating where they were outshot 26-9 and were under siege all game.  Despite the humbling loss, Ikhlas continues to refer to Emaan as "Cambridge Two" under the guise that until Emaan wins a championship they are mere pretenders.

- Waqar Khan was a force in the battle of Cambridge, racking up two goals and two assists and leading his team to a dominant win.  The leadership of Khan combined with "Coach K" may prove to be fruitful after last games display

- Haya continues to roll as they defeated Ihsan to up their record to 4-0 to start the season, Naeem Akhtar and Junaid Mohammad have been key to their hot start, Akhtar producing some highlight reel goals along the way.

- Haya has also received some great play from (fill in the blank) Malik, although Rizwan Malik has stood out a bit more when he is not battling the media

- Shukr has had an interesting start and depending upon your perspective they are either:
> Undefeated (Glass half full)
> Winless (Glass half empty)

- Regardless of your perspective the fact is that Shukr is both of those adjectives, they have four ties in all four of their games so as Ihsan described them a few weeks ago, "they always bend but never break."  Shukr needs to get things going because right now they are tied for the lowest goals scored with Ikhlas.  Shuaib Hussein with a goal in four games and Gehad Al-Hundi with just an assist in three games won't do - that said if these two can get going then Shukr will surely be a threat to actually win a game

- After a quirky start to the schedule where the first four weeks saw home and home series, week five has teams face a new opponent so time for some new rivalries to start up

Week Four - March 6th

- The big story of last week was likely Ikhlas getting their first win of the season after being dominated in their first two games.  A bigger feat considering that Ibad Khan was missing again.  Attendance has been a challenge for Ikhlas this season as Hammad Khan has yet to play a game and he was expected to help anchor the teams defense core.

- Haya came away with another win over Emaan but this one was more convincing than the first.  Ali Malik potted the game winner with some hard work and using his speed to his advantage.  Haya picked up Malik in a trade which has more than worked out for them as his game continues to grow.

- Sabr got a boost last week with the return of Yousuf Sowdagar from an ankle injury.  While he looked a bit rusty in his first action back, when he gets going it will be a big boost for Sabr who are already looking solid so far this season despite their loss to Ikhlas last week.

- Shukr continues to have penalty problems this season which has disrupted their flow with the constant penalty kills so better discipline is required if they plan on creating any type of consistent offensive pressure

- It's early in the season but already Furqan Salam has more points (4 points in 3 games) than he did in the entire Fall season (2 points in 11 games).  Good to see him back on track but if he starts to struggle, expect to see various meme's analyzing his struggles

- Shukr has had an anemic offensive showing thus far, with just 4 goals scored in their first three games, a combination of players not clicking along with trying to do make too pretty a play have hurt their goal-scoring but its only a matter of time before they start to put everything together - or at least that's what they keep telling themselves

- Umair Ashraf is either the most interesting man in the world or just enjoys seeing his name in this column (I am not complaining - I have a page to fill).  He recently talked of his enjoyment of listening to Backstreet Boys (with Facebook posts to support his devotion) and how he likes to sing their songs while playing to throw off opponents.  No word if this strategy works or not...its definitely different...it's not really hurting anyone...just annoying which is the point.

- Speaking of music, during the Spring Season draft Haya considered drafting Zayn Malik of One Direction in their transparent attempt to grab as many Malik's as possible but decided against it worrying that they had already filled their pretty boy quota when they selected Rizwan Malik

- The standings are pretty tight thus far with just one point separating 2nd from 6th place, only Haya has come out of the starting gate flying

- Big game this week with Ikhlas vs Cambridge Two (AKA Emaan) as Ikhlas tries to avenge their humbling 5-2 defeat to open the season which was kind to how badly they were dominated as they were outshot 43-13 and were overwhelmed

- Haya had a surprise guest last week as Naiem Malik showed up to support his family, he reportedly gave a riveting pre-game speech about taking the body and playing a tight conservative game.  Haya listened to what he said and went out and did the exact opposite resulting in a 5-2 win...

- Speaking of Rizwan Malik, there was some controversy as the I-Slam Hockey twitter account noted that Naiem Malik  was attempting to pull Rizwan Malik to another team, which Saleem Malik took exception too and released the following statement, "I'm fed up with how the media treats Riz.  It's not his fault he hurt his knee.  Rizwan is a heart and soul player and doesn't deserve to be treated this way.  You guys should be ashamed, you owe him an apology."  No word is a lawsuit is pending so stay tuned

Week Three - February 27th

- The biggest headline thus far has been the struggles of Ikhlas, with the best goalie and great pieces in front of him the fact that Ikhlas has been soundly defeated in their first two games is a shock.  True that Ibad Khan was a late scratch in their game against Sabr last week but their offensive struggles are unexpected.  They get a rematch with Sabr this week and need something positive this week or a trade is likely to happen to shake things up.

- Haya leads the league after grinding out a win over Emaan in an early battle of contenders.  The star was Yusuf Kapoor who made some spectacular saves in the final minutes to preserve his teams lead.  Kapoor was the last goalie taken in the draft this season but has played very well this season and is proving to be a steal for his team.

- Back to Ikhlas for a moment, they have given up an absurd 73 shots in their first two games, if you were looking at advanced metrics their opponents Corsi score would be through the roof.

- Sabr looked good in their last game and the return of Atif Mian was a great boost to their offense as he used his speed to eat up the Ikhlas defense, with the return of Yousuf Sowdagar on the horizon from an ankle injury this team is looking like they are poised for a solid season

- Shukr seems unable to get away from their penalty problems that hurt them in the season opener as undisciplined play gave Ihsan multiple power play opportunities last week, thankfully for Shukr their penalty killing was up to the task and then some as they scored a key shorthanded goal to give their struggling offense a boost

- Sadiq Rehman made his debut for Emaan after missing the opener with a wrist injury but did not suffer any setbacks and his performance will be key for his team to make a championship run

- Salman Alvi of Shukr has turned some heads with his play thus far, known for his big shot and offensive awareness it has been his hustle and speed that have his team giving him rave reviews

- Correction from last week, we noted that Umair Ashraf of Emaan was eager to watch the NBA Celebrity Game for his favourite Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan, however he wanted to correct the record that his favourite Bollywood star is actually "SRK".  We regret the error.

Week Two - February 20th

• It was billed as Cambridge One vs Cambridge Two - or as one Ikhlas player put it, Cambridge One vs Emaan / Ikhlas vs Cambridge Two.  What it turned into was a pre-Valentine's Day massacre as Ikhlas seemed anything but the team that won last Spring.  Unable to get the ball out of their zone, they were outshot 24-5 in the first half but trailed only 2-1 thanks to the heroics of Ibad Khan.  The second half was much the same and the final score of 5-2 flattered Ikhlas who were outshot 43-13 for the game and it was only Khan who kept this from being a blowout

• Emaan looked strong as all three lines were flying, the only hiccup was the late announcement that starting goalie Sadiq Rehman was scratched with a wrist injury but he was capably replaced by Sheraz Mahmood in this game

• Ikhlas was missing some key players on D and it showed, when they have all their players it will be a better opportunity to gauge their team because this game was ugly

• Umair Ashraf of Emaan was distracted going into the big Cambridge game and was seen putting together this fan video for his favourite Bollywood Star participating in the NBA Celebrity All-Star Game

• Zaid Toorawa of Sabr is recognized for his offensive talents, his defensive skills leave something to be desired as he seemed to be trying to create offensive chances at both ends of the arena; best highlighted by his centering pass to an opposing Shukr forward in the final minutes of their match-up that ended in a tie

• Kashif "Coach K" Taqiuddin made his return after a lengthy layoff due to a serious knee injury, many thought his career was over but after a strong debut for Emaan with two assists and an end-to-end rush where he stepped through multiple Ikhlas players it seems like the only thing he lost in the layoff was his stamina as he described himself as being in poor conditioning.  Thankfully he didn't show up to the Emaan camp looking like this.  If Coach K can bring his leadership to Emaan then this season is already looking great for them.

• Waseem Bangash made an appearance last week, it was unclear if he was hoping to be added as a replacement player or looking to get his feet wet coaching Sabr after seeing the success Coach K had on Haya last Fall season

• Haya defeated Ihsan 3-2 or as one observer noted, the Malik's defeated the Soliman's

• Rizwan Malik seemed to be showing no ill-effects from the injury he suffered in the Fall Season and picked up an assist in his return which was great to see

• Sabr was playing shorthanded against Shukr but managed to get a tie, missing their top two picks in Yousuf Sowdagar and Atif Mian, Sowdagar is injured so they will be without him for a few games still while Mian was a late scratch as his family welcomed the birth of a baby girl - Congats to Atif and his family!

Week One - February 13th

- The draft was completed and there are always surprises in a pressure filled draft for GMs to try and build a winning team.  So here are some draft notes:

• Yousuf Sowdagar went first overall to Sabr as expected, despite the ankle injury that will keep him out to start the season, Sowdagar was the best player available in the draft so a no brainer here.
• Aazar Zafar was picked second overall, a bit of a surprise but a solid pick nonetheless as his speed and tenacity will serve Haya well
• Nauman Abbasi went third overall much to the pleasure of Ihsan GM Salman Khalid who wanted the speedy ball carrying style that Abbasi brings and planned to build his defence core around
• Khalid Mufti went fourth overall to Shukr who grabbed one of the top goalies available in the draft, never a bad strategy to start building from the net out
• Emaan grabbed Adeel Awan fifth overall in a solid move, giving them experience and scoring from the back
• Ikhlas picked Amir Multani with the sixth pick, many were surprised to see Multani fall this far in the draft but to the pleasure of Ikhlas GM Wakaas Khan he was able to grab a scoring forward
• Emaan surprised some (well maybe only me) by selecting Sadiq Rehman as their goalie, Rehman is solid but after all the friendly trash-talking from last season it was a surprise to see them grab him
• Ihsan was able to bring back many pieces from the team that made the finals last Spring and likely would have won if not for all the injuries that limited them in the finals
• Haya stayed true to expectations and grabbed anyone with the surname Malik; it worked well for them as they were able to grab some solid pieces along the way
• Emaan grabbed Kashif Taqiuddin in the fifth round, he is coming off a serious knee injury so difficult to predict how he will perform but if he is given a chance to coach, then "Coach K" may be able to get this team on a roll early
• Sabr lost out on a few of their desired players as their GM group had volume control issues, specifically Zaid Toorawa seemed unaware that in a draft you should be discrete on who you are planning to take next when your pick is not next.  Mustafa Alam tried to move their group away into a corner of the draft room before telling his Co-GM to stop talking
• Sabr also had some outside help for the draft as Waseem Bangash gave them a hand with identifying some of the newer players available; it will be interesting to see if Bangash shows up and tries to help coach the team he helped put together
• The plan was to give away a car to the player taken last in the draft, Rayhan Taqiuddin has reportedly been looking forward to taking possession of said car but due to tax implications the transfer has been delayed; to his credit Taqiuddin said he will donate the car to charity

- Week One has some interesting match-ups, particularly the Ikhlas vs Emaan game pitting the two Cambridge groups against each other, or as one Ikhlas player referred to it: Ikhlas vs Cambridge Two

- Emaan may reportedly be without Sadiq Rehman so securing a goalie from the list of available back-ups will need to happen quickly