Fall Season - Week Two - September 22nd

- The season opened with a close one as grinded out a 1-0 win over Shukr only to be followed by two blowouts as Ikhlas ran Yaqeen out of the building by 6-2 score and Emaan routed Haya by a 5-1 score.

Three Stars of Week One:
1st Star: Umair Awan (Ikhlas) - 3 Goals, 1 Assist, GWG
2nd Star: Wakaas Khan (Ikhlas) - 1 Goal, 4 Assists
3rd Star: Farooq Sani (Emaan) - 2 Goals, 1 Assist

- Haya knew they were in for a challenge in Week One missing key players but being without Waqar Khan, Salman Khalid, Junaid Mohammad and Humza Hussain was a mountain too big but they rest of the team did well to only lose by a 5-1 score considering the skill and leadership they were missing.

-After Week 1, Wakaas Khan leads the scoring leader with a big 5 point performance against Yaqeen. After his game he was driving around Cambridge proclaiming he is their King, tormenting his car pool mates (Umair Awan, Atif Mian and Sajid Khan).

- Shukr may have lost in week one but the team is clearly shaping up to be filled with stories of young players who are lining up with their ball hockey heroes.  During the draft it was Samad Hamidi who was shocked that Nauman Abbasi slipped to the end of the first round and is now getting to play on the same team.  After Week One, Emaad Khan was getting to know his new teammates and was telling a story about an Imam who was wrongfully tied to a controversy during the recovery efforts in Texas only to learn that he was speaking of his line mate, Ibrahim Hindy.  

- After Week 1, Wakaas Khan leads the league in scoring, we are all used to a Khan being up there - just that it’s always Waqar Khan.  A player from Haya commented that we seem to be entering the “Upside Down” world so see Wakaas putting up a five-point night.

-Yaqeen gave up 6 goals against Ikhlas in their opener - more than how many shots they generated against their opponent (5).

- Back to Waqar Khan, there were rumours that after Samad Hamidi broke down how to contain Khan in the Week 1 preview, he wanted to skip the game to try and work in new elements to his skill set.

- Rookie goaltender, Fahad Mohammed got a shutout in his first I-slam Hockey game.  He only faced eight shots but did well to turn them all away.

- Haya is being hit hard early this season as there are rumblings that Humza Hussain is done for the season as he sustained a back injury prior to the draft that is not healing. 

- We only have Week 1 in the books but observers are circling October 13th in their calendar (Friday the 13th no less) as it will feature Haya vs Ikhlas.  A match-up that was referred to as Cambridge One vs Cambridge Two a few seasons ago.

Fall Season - Week One - September 15th

- Fall Season kicks off this Week!  Emaan won the Championship last season and the bulk of their roster was reunited on Haya this season so big things are expected there.

- Watching the Draft, many observers had the same feedback: How many times did Samad Hamidi mention Nauman Abassi?  Now that they are teammates it will be interesting to see Hamidi be on the same team as clearly one of his favourite players.

- Will Salman Alvi go on streaking?  After lifting the Alvi curse last season, teams are no longer scared in drafting Salman. Does he now start a winning streak?

- Tahir Maarouf is described to be a Yousuf Solimon type of player (on that note we wish Drake a speedy recovery and hope to see him next season).  Maarouf considers himself a Jose Bautista lookalike, perhaps explaining his constant consumption of Booster Juice.

- Did you see Ahmad Mobin flip that tire? He seems to be more motivated this year to reclaim a championship after losing in the finals.

- Salman Khalid and "Boom Boom” Waqar Khan are expected to miss games this season.  In the long run will this hurt their team’s playoff chances as only Top 5 out of the 6 make it.

- Two goalies make their league debuts this week: Ahmed Jamal (Ikhlas) and Fahad Mohammed (Sabr).

- Why do Mehmed Rizvanovic and Aazar Zafar always end up on the same team?

- Trade rumours between Emaan and Yaqeen?  Everyone assumes that Emaan want Rizwan Malik, Yaqeen want Idris Kalair.  Anything can happen but trades can be difficult to pull off.

- Samad “Cherry” Hamidi knows how to stop Waqar Khan and shared the secret in his Weekly Preview, now that teams know how to shut him down - how will Khan react this week?  Rumours are that he is concerned to the point of considering sitting out this week to adjust his game.

- Reminder for players that a Minimum of Three games played in order to qualify for the playoffs.

Spring Season - Week Thirteen - May 19th

- Then there was one, Emaan completed a sweep of Sabr to take the Spring Season Championship.

Three Stars of the Week:
1st: Umair Awan (Emaan) - 2 Goals, Game Winning Goal
2nd: Furqan Salam (Emaan) - 1 Goal, 2 Assists
3rd: Luqman Arshad (Sabr) - 1 Goal, 1 Assist

- Emaan built up a 2-0 lead at the half and with 10 minutes left in the game were up 4-0.  They let their foot off the gas and for a talented team like Sabr it was a big mistake as Sabr scored three quick goals to make it a 4-3 game.  Arif Bijabhai potted an empty netter with 1:23 left to seal the game and crown Emaan as Spring Champions.

- Emaan’s victory broke the well advertised curse for Salman Alvi who lifted his first Championship, Samad Hamidi and Yusuf Kapoor also won for the first time.  The Cambridge squad seems to be the place where players go to win their first title as Kashif "Coach K" Taqiuddin infamously won his first championship with the majority of this group a couple of seasons ago.

- Before the game the Regular Season Awards were handed out, here are your winners:
THE NASEEM BUTTAR GENERAL MANAGER’S AWARD:
- Taqwa GMs: Yasir Hussain & Saajid Bhayat

BEST DEFENSEMAN:
- Adil Patel - Taqwa

BEST GOALTENDER:
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

PLAYER'S CHOICE AWARD:
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

REGULAR SEASON MVP:
- Adil Patel - Taqwa

PLAYOFF MVP: * subject to change
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

- To sum it up, Yusuf Kapoor cleaned up winning Best Goalie, Lowest Goals Against, Players Choice and Playoff MVP.  This on top of winning his first Championship - a great night for the young goaltender.

- Here is your 2017 Spring Season Champions, Emaan

Spring Season - Week Twelve - May 12th

- Last week Emaan came out firing on all cylinders with an impressive 6-2 victory over Sabr.  Emaan now leads the best of 2 series 1-0 and this result makes it three straight wins for them over Sabr.

Three Stars of the Week:
1st: Waqar Khan (Emaan) - 2 Goals, 2 Assists, 1 PP Goal, 1 SH Goal
2nd: Umair Awan (Emaan) - 2 Goals, 1 Assist
3rd: Saleem Malik (Sabr) - 1 Goal, 1 Assist

- Will the curse of Salman Alvi come to an end tomorrow?  For a refresher, Salman Alvi has yet to reach the summit of I-Slam glory. Skill and effort are never in doubt with Alvi as he has played a pivotal part in many successful teams throughout the years. However lady luck hasn’t been on his side. Has his fortunes finally turned?  Hey why not?  We have witnessed Leicester City, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Cubs and even Donald Trump.  So this might be the year where the unpredictable is the predictable

- On the flip side, Rizwan Malik of Sabr has gone as far as to publicly guarantee a win for his team in Game Two on Facebook.  When asked, many of his teammates agreed and said that they would make the greatest comeback in league history.

- Firasath Ali notched a goal for Emaan last week leaving critics perplexed as to why he hasn’t considered playing up as a forward more often.  Sure Salman Khalid did a lot of the heavy lifting going coast to coast and creating the chance but Ali was able to provide the finish.

- Sabr’s Ahmad Mobin has vowed to better this week after surrendering 6 goals on 11 shots.  In 2014 he haunted TMT in the semi-finals but fast forward to 2017 TMT has made him look like a ghost in net.  He will need to rewind the clock to help support Rizwan Malik's bold prediction

- Postgame, Sabr seemed stunned by the result but confident about what needed to happen to win this series.  A common sentiment was that the team owed their fan base more after the poor Game One performance but they would make good as "A Malik always pays his debts."

Here are the Finalist for the 2017 Spring Awards (in alphabetical order):
*Awards to be handed out before the finals so if you are a finalist please show up!

THE NASEEM BUTTAR GENERAL MANAGER’S AWARD:
- Emaan GMs: Adeel Awan & Furqan Salam
- Sabr GMs: Saleem Malik & Naiem Malik
- Taqwa GMs: Yasir Hussain & Saajid Bhayat

BEST DEFENSEMAN:
- Adil Patel - Taqwa
- Luqman Arshad - Sabr
- Salman Khalid - Emaan

BEST GOALTENDER:
- Ahmad Mobin - Sabr
- Khalid Mufti - Haya
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

PLAYER'S CHOICE AWARD:
- Dawood Ciombar - Sabr
- Naqeeb Shaikh - Taqwa
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

REGULAR SEASON MVP:
- Adil Patel - Taqwa
- Dawood Ciombar - Sabr
- Waqar Khan - Emaan

PLAYOFF MVP: * subject to change
- Ali Malik - Sabr

- Dawood Ciombar - Sabr

- Saleem Malik - Sabr

- Umair Awar - Emaan

- Waqar Khan - Emaan
- Yusuf Kapoor - Emaan

We already know the winners of the following awards:
Overall Points Leader: Waqar Khan (Emaan) 19 points
Overall Goals Leader: Adil Patel (Taqwa) & Dawood Ciombar (Sabr) 10 Goals
Khalid Raheem Lowest GAA Award: Yusuf Kapoor (Emaan) 1.30

Let’s not forget about the one trophy that will have everyone’s attention... As it stands at the moment, it is closer to Cambridge and might be there at the end of the night unless Sabr makes good on their guarantee.

Spring Season - Week Eleven - May 5th

- Week 10 saw Ihsan punch their way to the semi-finals by grinding out a win over Haya; Sabr doubling up against Taqwa to win by a score of 4-2; Emaan taking care of business against their rivals and defending champions Ihsan with a dominant 4-0 win.

Three Stars of the Week:
1st: Furqan Salam (Emaan) – 2 Goals, 1 Short-handed, Game Winning Goal
2nd: Osama Soliman (Ihsan)- 2 Goals, Game Winning Goal

3rd: Ali Malik (Sabr) - 1 Goal, Game Winning Goal

- Emaan has seen the injuries pile up as the season has progressed, some more obvious with GM Adeel Awan and Abdu Sharkawy moving with crutches but they have been paying a price for their recent wins.  Waqar Khan was supporting a large welt on his arm after blocking a shot, Zuhair Fancy was knocked out of the semi-final game after being hit from behind into the end boards and failing medical clearance to return to the game.  Umair Ashraf has been battling fitness issues while Samad Hamidi and Sadiq Rehman have been playing with lower body injuries.  Winning comes with a price and Emaan has been paying their bills on a weekly basis.

- The finals will be a match-up of the top two teams from the regular season along with the usual game within a game match-ups.  Akib Malik is one of the best two-way players in the league and will likely be counted on to cover Waqar Khan.  Yusuf Kapoor and Ahmad Mobin have been in a duel for the top goalie all season with Kapoor getting the edge in Wins, Goals Against and Save Percentage but its the Championship that they are both vying for now.

- Sabr wanted to face Taqwa in the semi's rather than Ihsan, feeling that it was a better match-up for them so winning their semi-final spared the team from a great deal of criticism for dropping the game against what they perceived to be a weaker opponent.

- Emaan managed to finally defeat their rivals Ihsan in the semi-final with a dominant 4-0 win despite being in penalty trouble for much of the game.  The last four regular season meetings had Ihsan winning two and getting a tie in the other two so Emaan had to be pleased with finally getting the win.  They made a point to "Controlla" Yousuf Soliman and keep him from making an impact on the game.

- After locking in their spot for the finals and watching Ihsan get eliminated, players from Sabr could be overheard proclaiming that the Soliman dynasty was over, and this was the dawn of the "Age of the Malik's"

Awards - 2017 Spring Nominations (in alphabetical order):

Regular Season MVP:
1. Adil Patel (Taqwa)
2. Akib Malik (Sabr)

3. Dawood Ciombar (Sabr)
4. Furqan Salam (Emaan)
5. Junaid Mohammad (Yaqeen)
6. Mehmed Rizvanovic (Haya)
7. Naeem Akhter (Haya)
8. Waqar Khan (Emaan)
9. Yousuf Soliman (Ihsan)

Top Goaltender:
1. Ahmad Mobin (Sabr)

2. Kaunain Saiyed (Yaqeen)

3. Khalid Mufti (Haya)

4. Yasir Hussain (Taqwa)
5. Yusuf Kapoor (Emaan)

6. Zaid Majoo (Ihsan)

Best Defensemen:
1. Adil Patel (Taqwa)
2. Arssal Shahabuddin (Haya)
3. Jibraan Salam (Emaan)
4. Junaid Mohammad (Yaqeen)
5. Farrukh Khan (Ihsan)
6. Naeem Akhter (Haya)
7. Naiem Malik (Sabr)
8. Luqman Arshad (Sabr)
9. Salman Khalid (Emaan)

Player’s Choice Award:
1. Aamir Hanif (Sabr)
2. Aazar Zafar (Haya)
3. Abdu Sharkawy (Emaan)
4. Ahmad Kaiss (Ihsan)
5. Ahmad Mobin (Sabr)
6. Dawood Ciombar (Sabr)
7. Farooq Sani (Taqwa)
8. Jibraan Salam (Emaan)
9. Mohammed Hamoud (Yaqeen)
10. Munaf Nathalia (Taqwa) Write-In
11. Naqeeb Shaikh (Taqwa) Write-In
12. Sadiq Rehman (Emaan)
13. Saqib Khokhar (Taqwa) Write-In
14. Sulmaan Azmat (Haya)
15. Usamah Rao (Sabr)
16. Yusuf Kapoor (Emaan)

General Managers of The Season:
1. Emaan: Furqan Salam & Adeel Awan
2. Haya: Naeem Akhtar & Fahad Mallik

3. Ihsan: Yousuf Soliman & Farrukh Khan

4. Sabr: Saleem Malik & Naiem Malik

5. Taqwa: Saajid Bhayat & Yasir Hussain

6. Yaqeen: Arslan Mian & Humza Chaudhry

As the season is drawing to the end we would like to thank the GMs, all of the volunteers and
players who made continue to make this league a success.

Spring Season - Week Ten - April 28th

- The last week of the season saw Emaan defeat Sabr to take First Overall and the Number One seed for the playoffs; Yaqeen stun Ihsan for their first win of the season; Taqwa put up a season-high Nine goals against Haya to lock up third place and finally Ihsan close out the regular season with a win over Taqwa.

- Three Stars from Week Nine:
1st Star: Furqan Salam (Emaan) - 1 Goal, 2 Assists
2nd Star: Yousuf Soliman (Ihsan) - 2 Goals
3rd Star: Idrees Deen (Yaqeen) - 1 Goal, 1 Assist

- Yaqeen went into their last game of the season without a win, without a goalie and without much of a bench.  Tanseer Khawaja stepped up to strap on the pads for his team against last season's champions Ihsan.  What transpired was a shocker as Yaqeen rallied to take a 3-0 lead at halftime and hold for a 4-1 win.  Ihsan managed a goal with just over a minute left in the game to avoid being shutout.  A positive end to a tough season for Yaqeen, key players missing games hurt them a great deal as players were shuffled into unfamiliar roles to cover.

- Emaan may have taken first overall but an observer noted that can they overcome the Salman Alvi curse, Alvi a great player in his own right has never won a championship, Emaan managed to break the championship jinx for Kashif Taqiuddin a few seasons ago when Coach K lifted the cup for the first time - can they do it again for Alvi?

- Speaking of Coach K, there were rumours during Yaqeen's tremendous performance that there were rumours of Kashif Taqiuddin retiring at the end of the season.  If he does hang up his jersey he at least goes out with a win thanks to his teammates.

- Ihsan was humbled in their first game, but bounced back against Taqwa in their second game of the night with fans noting that Rameez Siddiqi gets amped up whenever Yousuf Soliman scores a goal.  It's unclear whether he's auditioning for a role as a hype man Soliman's alter ego of Drake but his passion is great for the teams chemistry

- Yaqeen's upset win also did one unexpected thing for the playoffs, putting Ihsan and Emaan in the same bracket as they could meet in the Semi-Finals.

- Veteran Naveen Mohammad managed to score in each of Taqwa's games last week, he'll be additionally pleased that the goals put him ahead of his son in the family race to see who scored more points this season.

- Yaqeen had a short bench in their game last week but that didn't stop their players from checking their phone on the bench to watch the live stream of the Leaf's playoff game.  Players from Yaqeen were seen live streaming the Leafs game on their bench, the passion that unites us all.

Congratulations to the following winners of Regular Season Awards:
Overall Points Leader: Waqar Khan (Emaan) 19 points
Overall Goals Leader: Dawood Ciombar (Sabr) and Adil Patel (Taqwa) tied with 10 Goals each
Khalid Raheem Lowest GAA Award: Yusuf Kapoor (Emaan) 1.30

Look for the nominees of the rest of the Awards to be announced next week.

Spring Season - Week Nine - April 21st

- Week Eight saw Sabr shutout Ihsan; Emaan retain the #1 seed with a victory versus Haya; Yaqeen and Taqwa battle to a tie; and Haya claiming the last playoff spot over Yaqeen

- Three Stars from Week Eight:
1st: Saleem Malik (Sabr) - 1 goal, 2 assists
2nd: Waqar Khan (Emaan) - 3 assists
3rd: Assad Darr (Haya) - 1 goal, 1 assist, game winner

- Did you know that Sabr has shutout Ihsan in both of their games this season?  In fact Sabr has four shutouts this season (ranking 1st) versus: Haya, Yaqeen and Ihsan (twice).  Critics were wrong – seems you can find a D when you spell Malik

- Many people felt Sabr ran up the score against a short-benched Ihsan.  When asked for a comment, GM Naiem Malik responded, “Are you joking? No one felt sorry for Sabr last season when y’all were racking up points against my squad.  Also it should be pointed out that the first time we faced Ihsan we won 6-0, this time only won by four …”  The point of contention was Sabr pushing the ball up and Ali Malik scoring with 13 seconds left considering Ihsan was short benched and forced to put a defenseman to play in goal.  An observer noted that Ihsan didn't really show any emotion after being embarrassed like that – a bad sign for the teams state of mind as the playoffs approach.

- Ihsan did get one positive out of their game with Sabr, starting goalie Zaid Majoo was not available and in a pinch the team was forced to put a position player in net.  Emad Hussain stepped up and despite limited experience as a goalie played well enough to give his team a chance to win.

- Emaan fell behind early last week against Haya and the team seemed to be out of sync but suddenly Waqar Khan seemed to wake up and start to take over the game.  What caused his sudden jump start?  It was the emergence of his "frenemy" Ahmad Hathout, also known as the Dark Knight or Batman, that seemed to spark Khan.  The two have had a long standing rivaly until Hathout moved to Ottawa to bring his crime fighting talents to a the capital.

- Hany Soliman (Ihsan), last week arrived Friday afternoon in Toronto from Umrah and played his game! Hopefully for Ihsan he (and the rest of the Soliman’s) are able to overcome the shift in time zones before the playoffs.

- Many thought Abdu Sharkawy of Emaan was done for the season with a foot/leg injury.  Thus, it was a pleasant surprise for the league and for his team to see him playing last week considering he watched his team play the week before in leg cast.  No doubt he will be a pivotal cog for TMT’s playoff success.

- Yaqeen’s season ends tonight.  It is a major disappointment for last season’s finalist.  Players on this team are looking to erase this season from their memory banks as soon as possible.  However, a loss tonight and they will forever hold the dubious record of having the fewest wins in a season (0).  On paper this looked like a great team but player absences hurt them almost every week as players were forced to play different positions instead of preferred roles.

- Get your popcorn ready Sabr and Emaan battle it out tonight for the number one seed.  Sabr has been the best team in the league for the past five weeks with five straight wins and outscoring opponents by a 21-5 margin - also getting shutouts in three of the past four games.

- Inside sources say Haya has decided to give Khalid Mufti the night off tonight so he can be well-rested for the playoffs.  No word yet who will be in net for Haya tonight.  It is possible that as a win cannot move Haya out of the wildcard game the team may rest some other star players – no word how the League Office will deal with this if it happens.

- Haya will be playing in the wildcard game next week.  Depending on tonight’s results their opponents will either be Taqwa or Ihsan.

- With the end of the season that means it is time to talk awards!  The first stage is currently underway as your respective GMs are nominating their own players for each of the major award.  After the conclusion of tonight’s games voting will begin and will end before the start of the playoffs.  These awards are based on how well players performed during the regular season.  There are other awards which are not voted on but rather determined by stats:

Overall Scoring Leader: Waqar Khan (Emaan) 16 points - 3 Point lead over 2nd place Dawood Ciombar
Goals Scoring Leader: Dawood Ciombar (Sabr): 9 Goals - 1 Goal lead over 2nd place Adil Patel

- Will both Waqar Khan and Dawood Ciombar hold on and take home these awards?