I-Slam Ball Hockey News and Rumours

Friday, 28 June 2019

Summer Season - Week Three - June 28th

Week 2 saw a short-handed Haya hand Yaqeen their second straight loss (score: 4-2). In the double header Ihsan used a dominant second half to run Sabr out of the building (score: 4-1).

Week 2 Three Stars:

1^st Star: Dawood Ciombar (Haya) - 2 Goals
2^nd Star: Yusuf Ingar (Ihsan) - 2 Assists
3^rd Star: Ajmal Esmatyar (Ihsan) - 1 Goal + 1 Assist

- Omar Essawi (Haya) is on a nice 2 game goal scoring streak, with goals against Ihsan and Yaqeen

- Suleman Bhatti (Haya) has is on 2 game goal streak going as well

- Rumour has it that Ihsan’s goaltender, Imran Alvi will not be in the lineup today as he is getting married this weekend. All the best brother!

- Getting married and missing Friday Night Lights is a borderline acceptable but what is not an acceptable reason to miss hockey is this. When Sabr gm Arslan Mian became aware of this, he had the following to say, “Saqib Khokhar, is the face of our franchise. By placing this tag on him I was hoping that he accepted this challenge and rise to the occasion. Right now we need him to start producing as Sabr can only go as far as he can take us. Hopefully this is the first and last time he will miss games this season. My team is putting this situation behind us and are now moving on… Our focus is having a strong bounce back game against Haya.”

- In the Haya vs Sabr matchup, Sabr will start off on the power-play as Haya has been assessed a 2-minute penalty for failing to submit their Week 2 recap on time. Deadlines matter people!

- No word if there will be a Hamidi Report for this week as Samad has been closely following the NHL Free-Agency updates hoping that his beloved Ottawa Senators can return to competitiveness by signing some big names.

- For this season, your team plays the other teams three times. As Week Three marks the end of the first circuit, Yaqeen is hoping to avoid the season starting 0-3. Yaqeen’s GM Mohammed Hamoud, has put pressure on Ahmad Ibrahim (the All-Star formerly known as the Black Panther) in hopes to light a fire under his pyramid.
“Ahmad Ibrahim is family and will always be family but when he forced my hand to trade for him I was hoping to get some production from him. He seems to be gripping his stick too hard and over-thinking things. He needs to let the game come to home and just relax and play. We know he is disappointed on how his season has started but we need him to fight through this rough patch. It is just a matter of time until he turns things around.”

- Brotherhood Moment: Yaqeen’s Samad Hamidi forgot his helmet and gloves. (Former) Ihsan player Syed Iftikhar lent him his helmet and gloves so Hamidi can play his game. Great brotherhood spirit but Yaqeen’s GM, Mohammed Hamoudi was not too pleased with Hamidi and released this statement, “I expect all my guys to prepare themselves throughout the week and be ready to play each and every Friday. Not having your equipment with you shows lack of preparation. We all know Hamidi is a veteran of this league and this is highly uncharacteristic of him. I expect this to be a non-issue moving forward.”

- On the topic of helmets: All players registered in the Summer (and future) seasons must wear some form of protective eyewear. Protective eyewear includes a visor, cage or goggles. As this rule is new for the Summer season, players have up until Week Five to have this equipment in place - players who do not have protective eyewear for their Week Five game are not eligible to play until they have this equipment in place.

- On the topic of gloves: only ice hockey or lacrosse gloves are permitted with proper wrist protection during sanctioned CBHA and OBHF games for the protection of all players

- We had some player movements during the past week. For those unfamiliar with the waiver system here is a brief over-view:
If a player has dropped out of the league, a team can bring in a new player. That player must first clear waivers where the other 3 remaining teams have the opportunity to put in a claim (with the team with the poorest record having priority). If all teams pass on the new player then he can join the team in which brought him in. However if a team makes a claim they must give up a player from their roster who was drafted in the same round or better as the player who dropped out. The team who originally brought in the new player can either accept this or select a player from the other team’s roster who was drafted lower than the round they are replacing. It is not as confusing as you think. Perhaps the following two examples will clear things up!
Here are the replacements that happened after Week Two:

Replacement One: Sabr’s Zahid Hussain (12th round pick) dropped out of the league due to personal reasons. Sabr nominated a ghost from the past, Shan Malik as a replacement. Yaqeen passed and so did Haya. However Ihsan put in a claim for Malik and offered their 8^th round pick Abdul-Jalil Shaikh as compensation. Sabr had the choice to accept this or claim or claim Ihsan’s 12^th round pick- Hamza Gaya or 13^th round pick Syed Talha Iftikhar. Sabr selected Iftikhar and Malik now joins Ihsan.

Replacement Two: Yaqeen’s Abdu Sharkawy has dropped out due to injuries. Yaqeen nominated Mudassir Hussain as a replacement. Any team wishing to claim him would have had to give up their 6^th round pick (where Sharkawy was selected) or higher as compensation to Yaqeen. The three other teams passed and Hussain is now on Yaqeen

Syed Iftikhar is now on Sabr after scoring his first career goal against Sabr (as a member of Ihsan) last week! Sabr is hoping that Iftikhar brings more of that scoring touch for them.

- Latest reports on Shan Malik was that he is a bit out of shape. Perhaps that partially explains why two teams passed on him when he went through waivers.

The latest we are hearing is that the following players have been rumoured to be on the trading block:
Emad Hussain (Sabr): the belief is that he does not fit into Sabr’s lineup as a forward
Samad Hamidi (Yaqeen): teams are looking for a right-handed d-man
Ibrahim Hindy (Haya): attendance issues
Naiem Malik (Haya): attendance issues
Saajid Bhayat (Ihsan): would like to re-join Yaqeen and play with his friends
Arif Khan (Sabr): he gets traded every season!

The following seven players are tied for the points lead:

2019 SUMMER LEAGUE POINTS LEADERS
RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	GP	PTS
1	Arslan Mian	Sabr	1	3
2	Abraar Gangat	Ihsan	2	3
3	Ajmal Esmatyar	Ihsan	2	3
4	Dawood Ciombar	Haya	2	3
5	Omair Syed	Ihsan	2	3
6	Omar Essawi	Haya	2	3
7	Yusuf Ingar	Ihsan	2	3

The following 5 players are tops in goal-scoring:

2019 SUMMER LEAGUE GOALS LEADERS
RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	GP	G
1	Dawood Ciombar	Haya	2	2
2	Mehmed Rizvanovic	Sabr	2	2
3	Omair Syed	Ihsan	2	2
4	Omar Essawi	Haya	2	2
5	Suleman Bhatti	Haya	2	2

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Friday, 21 June 2019

Summer Season - Week Two - June 21st

Opening Week of the 2019 Summer Season saw Sabr (yellow) leveling the match with Yaqeen (white) with 2:18 left in the second half and subsequently scoring the go-ahead goal with 1:52 remaining (score 3-2). In the other game, Haya (grey) looked poised for a certain victory, but credit Ihsan (red) for their resiliency and ending the game in a tie with a goal at 1:42 in the second half (score: 3-3)

Three Stars of Week One:

1^st Star: Arslan Mian (Sabr): 1 G, 2 A
2^nd Star: Ali Murtaza (Yaqeen): 2 G
3^rd Star: Ommar Din (Haya) 1 G, 1 A

- Ommar Din (Haya) making GMs regret their decision on passing him up in the draft. The Analysts at the draft were shocked that he ended up being the last pick of the draft. Literally started from the bottom (of the draft) and now he’s here (third best player in the league for Week 1). We have video of Din’s current mood here.

- Health Benefits of Fasting: Observers were quick to note the massive transformation of the physical appearance and fitness level of Haya’s Omar Essawi. “He’s flying out there”, noted by one spectator. The off-the-board surprise first round pick of Haya paid immediate dividends as he blasted his patented slap-shot into the back of Ihsan’s net.

- Many were impressed with Haya’s 3-3 tie versus Ihsan, as they held their own despite key absences: Ibrahim Hindy and Naem Malik

- The immortal Malton Maverick/Jet Erfan Bhanapatel AKA EBP has never played with his Malton boys will participating in I-Slam. He came close this season as Abraar Gangat was drafted on his team only to be dealt soon after the draft in a package deal to acquire the Commish Ahmad Ibrahim

- Yaqeen’s GM, Mohammed Hamoud remains committed in allowing his players to grow and developed their games. One player in particular is Samad Hamidi, who had several key blocks in Week 1. Hamoud intends on playing Hamidi to have him gain some confidence and belief in his game.

- Speaking of confidence in one’s game, during the warmups members of Sabr saw that Saqib Khokhar has all the tools to emerge as one of the league’s top superstars. He possess a deadly slap-shot easily in the top 5% in the league. However he plays the game a bit to passively and does not get an opportunity to deliver those bombs. Sabr’s gm Arslan Mian is hoping Khokhar can break-out of his shell and has paired him up with teammate Arif Khan serve as his mentor and help take his game to the next level.

- Staying on the topic of Sabr, Arslan Mian was the best player in the league in Week 1 and in the process is slowly escaping from the label that “he needs to play with Humza Chaudhry in order to be successful”. During his time with Ikhlas last season he was a star as under the guidance of Coach K and hopes to find that form again.

- This season the roster sizes are smaller which gives everyone more playing time. So cardio and attendance will play a pivotal role in teams’ success. We already saw late game fatigue be an issue where Haya failed to back-check late in their game and allowing Ihsan to tie the game. Points are at a premium as the importance of finishing either first or second overall is huge for the playoffs (see point below). With this in mind GMs are encouraging their players to ensure they are doing cardio throughout the week and come be ready for the grind Friday nights.

Playoff Format: All four teams make the playoffs!

Here is the general format of the playoffs:

Playoff Week 1: Semi-Finals
i) 1^st vs 4^th

ii) 2^nd vs 3^rd

Playoff Week 2: Championship Game
(Winner of 1^st vs 4^th ) versus (Winner of 2^nd vs 3^rd )

The regular season has great significance especially for the semi-finals. The semifinals will be a “best of two”, where the 1^st and 2^nd seed respectively will start their series with a one game lead. That means the 3^rd and 4^th seed must win (not tie) in Playoff Week 1 to force a sudden death overtime and if still tied after that a shootout to determine who advances to the Championship Series.

For the finals it is a single game winner-take all. Also for the Finals if the game is tied after regulation we will be piloting multiple overtimes to crown the championship.

- Vasim Kagzi has been challenged by his Sabr teammates to bring the heat this season and play like its 2012 when he was more informally known as “Koko”. If those who are unaware Koko was a bad man from Scarborough with a blistering slapshot from the point.

- Ali Murtaza (Yaqeen) scored both goals for his team in a losing effort versus Sabr. He will undoubtedly need help from others to step out. Expect to see Erfan Bhanapatel and Abdu Sharkway chipping in as the season progresses as the duo were creating high quality chances for their team in Week 1.

- Another player with a pair of goals in Week 1 was Mehmed Rizvanovic of Sabr. Rizvanovic was a waiver replacement that is providing a high return on invest for Sabr.

- Abraar Gangat (Ihsan) started the season off strong with recording 2 points. Playing with Yusuf Ingar, look for him to be in contention for MVP this season. Gangat will be looking for redemption after finishing a close second for Rookie of the Year last season.

- Sabr is expected to be a bit short-handed as Emad Hussain is a game time decision as his flight from Egypt lands hours before puck drop. Budding super-star Saqib Khokhar is not expected to be in the lineup either.

- Did you know Egypt is well represented on Yaqeen: Abdu Sharkawy, Ahmad Ibrahim, Mohammed Hamoud

- Sabr was the only team to win in Week 1. For Arif Khan and Ahmad Mobin it was a long time coming as both players failed to win a game last season in the winter. After the victory Khan was shouting “I like my chips with dip.”

- There were several reports that Ahmad Ibrahim (Yaqeen) put his Black Panther trainings to use and climbed a city of Toronto truck to get a better view during the Raptors Parade. He could be heard yeling at Drake, “Chips with Humus… Chips with more Humus”

- Arif Khan was named as Sabr's Captain, a fitting role for the veteran forward who was debating being a GM this season.

- By his standards, Yusuf Ingar (Ihsan) is having a slow start to the season. Projected to be lead the league in goals expect Ingar to start filling the net soon.

- The H Report will be going on a hiatus for the Summer Season despite the great reviews and positive feedback from players, to attempt to fill the void the Hamidi Report will be returning on a weekly basis

- We received a lot of positive feedback in Week 1 on how much fun this season is going to be because of getting more playing time. In addition it was noted how competitive this season will be because with only 4 teams talent is more concentrated on each team.

Heads up, the remaining schedule is now available on our website.

- Also we usually have stats updated consistency. We apologize for the delay this week. Moving forward to ensure you get credit for your goals and assist please write your name clearly on the game sheet and do not switch jersey numbers during the season. Also if the scoresheet has any errors please notify your GM and they will bring it to the Organizing Committee.

Reminder: For those new to the league gloves and a helmet are mandatory. In light of the numerous facial and eye injuries over the past few seasons and after consulting with players and GMs, I-Slam Hockey has decided to implement a new player safety rule. All players registered in the Summer (and future) seasons must wear some form of protective eyewear. Protective eyewear includes a visor, cage or goggles. As this rule is new for the Summer season, players have up until Week Five to have this equipment in place - players who do not have protective eyewear for their Week Five game are not eligible to play until they have this equipment in place.

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Friday, 14 June 2019

Summer Season - Week One - June 14th

Welcome to the very first I-slam Hockey Summer Season!

For those new to the league gloves and a helmet are mandatory. In light of the numerous facial and eye injuries over the past few seasons and after consulting with players and GMs, I-Slam Hockey has decided to implement a new player safety rule. All players registered in the Summer (and future) seasons must wear some form of protective eyewear. Protective eyewear includes a visor, cage or goggles. As this rule is new for the Summer season, players have up until Week Five to have this equipment in place - players who do not have protective eyewear for their Week Five game are not eligible to play until they have this equipment in place.

The team that wins the 2019 Summer I-slam Hockey Cup will have a donation of the league’s proceeds made towards a charity of their choice. Details on the charitable donation for 2019 Winter I-slam Winter Champions-Ikhlas will be announce soon.

2019 Winter I-slam Hockey Champions: Ikhlas

To do what Ikhlas did last season, here is my advice to all 4 teams: championship team building is a complex process which must be continually monitored and improved. Regardless of your talent level, invest some time and tap into the power of teamwork to help your team perform at a higher level. A championship team is a group of players who can effectively handle adversity and conflict, trust one another, communicate clearly and authentically and appreciate each other in a positive way. The most talented team does not always win the I-slam Cup and that’s why we play the games every Friday Night. Get ready, season about to start….

Playoff Format: All four teams make the playoffs!

Here is the general format of the playoffs:

Playoff Week 1: Semi-Finals

i) 1^st vs 4^th

ii) 2^nd vs 3^rd

Playoff Week 2: Finals

( Winner of 1^st vs 4^th ) versus (Winner of 2^nd vs 3^rd )

For the finals it is a single game winner-take all. Also for the Finals if the game is tied after regulation we will be piloting multiple overtimes to crown the championship.

The season has not started and we have a few transactions that occurred since the draft:

Yaqeen trades picks #14 Abraar Gangat and #30 Saajid Bhayat to Ihsan for picks #18 Rizwan Malik and #26 Ahmad Ibrahim.
Sabr's Yasser Habib is injured. Mehmed Rizvanovic was nominated as a replacement and cleared waivers, having now joined Sabr. Get better Yasser and hope to see you in the fall season.

Some notes from the draft:

-Ahmad Ibrahim was infuriated when his brother-in-law Mohammed Hamoud- GM of Yaqeen (white) did not draft him originally on his team. Ibrahim felt that Hamoud made a gamble by select Abdu Sharkawy before him. What transpired in the days subsequent from the draft no one quite knows but we assume some family politics were in play as Ibrahim has now ended up on Yaqeen. The trade also re-unites Ibrahim with Sharkawy, a bromance that goes back to the Winter 2018 season: see here

- Staying on this story, few have nicknamed Yaqeen as “This 70s show team” as this team has more miles behind them than infront of them. Apparently they are coordinating a team bus from the Bingo-Hall Friday’s after Jummah to the Rink Friday Nights.

- Sabr GM Arslan Mian expects his team to go as far as Saqib Khokar takes them. There is a lot of pressure for that Saqib kid to come through this season. Rumour has it seasoned veteran Arif Khan will take him under his wing and mentor Saqib all throughout the season to help with his development.

- Emad Hussain seems keen on playing as a forward this season. However when Arslan Mian drafted Hussain he originally slotted him in as a top four defenseman. Negotiations have been going on back and forth as Mian desperately needs d-men as a result of primarily drafting forwards., whereas Hussian feels that he can be one of the top prolific scorers this season. Latest we heard is that the two parties have not come to an agreement and Mian has made Hussain a healthy scratch for tonight.

- Haya’s GM Dawood Ciombar made some interesting picks. He drafted Omar Essawi in the first round, which surprised everyone in the room including Essawi (who was there as he generously offered to host the draft at his school). Overall though Ciombar’s strategy seemed that he was content on drafting guys who he had recently played with instead of trying to develop chemistry with someone knew. From that perspective we can see his reasoning for his drafting strategy.

- Naiem Malik (Haya) makes his long-awaited return to I-slam Hockey. According to reports from social media he was out downtown celebrating the Raptors’ Championship with the rest of the Maliks. Will he be fatigued for tonight’s game?

- Ibrahim Khan (Haya) is planning to show up to tonight’s game with a suit and shout “Board Man Gets Paid”

- Abdul Nafea Zuberi (Ihsan) was hoping that his line-mate from last season, Sulman Azmat would be on his team this season. Unfortunately Azmat did not join for the summer session as he is rehabbing a back-injury sustained during a Russian-Ballet recital late last year

- Mohammed Hamoud (Yaqeen’s GM) said that he intends to put Samad Hamidi out on the floor in key defensive moments in the game. Hamoudi feels it is important to build Hamidi’s confidence as strength in numbers is crucial for a successful playoff run.

Opening faceoff has not even happened yet but we are hearing several names are already on the trading block primarily because GMs are finding out players might be away for extended periods of time. With the new adopted playoff format GMs are seeing the value of each and every regular season week:

Arif Khan (Sabr)
Emad Hussain (Sabr)
Ibrahim Hindy (Haya)
Naiem Malik (Haya)
Imran Lakhanpal (Haya)
Ali Haroon (Haya)
Faraaz Alvi (Ihsan)
Aamir Hanif (Yaqeen)
Usamah Rao (Yaqeen)
Farrukh Khan (Yaqeen)

Make sure to follow us on social media as we post pictures, videos, podcasts throughout the week:

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Friday, 26 April 2019

Spring Season - Week Fifteen - April 26th Finals!

- Week Fourteen featured Game One of the finals, a hyped up affair the ended in up Ikhlas walking off with a dominant 3-1 win over Shukr.

Three Stars of the Week for April 19th:

1st Star: Sufyan Shaikh (Ikhlas): 2 Goals,GWG

2nd Star: Zubair Wahid (Ikhlas): 3 Assists

3rd Star: Tayyab Kalair (Shukr): 1 Goal

- A reminder again about Player Health and Safety and the need for players to wear a visor or cage while playing, accidents will happen and we want to ensure that everyone participates in a safe environment.

- Game One of the Finals was billed as a clash of two hot teams but Ikhlas sure did cool Shukr down quickly, the talented offence of Shukr was held to six shots on goal and never seemed to be in this game.

- Ikhlas had their plan drawn out by Kashif "Coach K" Taqiuddin which they followed to a tee as Shukr has their top line shut down with few chances generated. His strategy has snuffed out the offensive dynamos from Ridha, Haya and now Shukr in the playoffs and has been the driver to this teams success.

- During the game is was observed that Mohammad Hamoud had his phone out to keep up to date with the Leafs game while another phone was streaming the Raptors game. One might perceive this as a distraction but not Ikhlas who dominated this night.

- Much has been made of the Shukr/Ikhlas deal the was made at the Trade Deadline but it is hard not to look at that transaction as the difference here. In a move to pour more salt in the wound, Zaid Toorawa opened the scoring while Sufyan Shaikh score the next two goals including the winner. To have a pair of players dealt away come back and haunt you in the finals is a rare sight to see but here we are. On the flip side pressure continues to mount on young Arslan Mian who has been a shadow in the Shukr lineup since the deal. It has gotten to the point where some speculate that Ikhlas made sure to showcase Mian to inflate his value and then flipped him for a pair of players they knew were more talented.

- Zubair Wahid has come up in talks of Playoff MVP, he torched Shukr by setting up all three goals in Game One of the finals and was key in the defeats of Ridha and Haya leading to the finals. After struggling with injuries in his first season his health and performance in the Ikhlas system has been great to see.

- The Game One result has to be a bitter pill for Arslan Mian who was drafted early by Ikhlas and then helped Luqman Arshad build the team, offering his insight and scouting notes. Looking back now Mian contributed to the drafting of this team and then was dumped, just more salt in the wound here.

- From his game one performance, it is clear that the dressing down that Zaid Toorawa received from Coach K worked as Toorawa did everything that was asked of him to try and redeem himself in the eyes of his new mentor. Postgame he was asked about his feelings around his old team and said it was similar to this. He celebrated his performance in Game One with a trip to Orlando to watch the Raptors defeat the Magic.

- There are reports that Kashif Taqiuddin is battling the flu and may not be dressed for tonights game. If this is true it is a huge blow to Ikhlas who will have to rally to replace his contributions on the floor and in the locker-room. That said they may not miss his Maple Leaf hating and talking of how Ikhlas needs to model their play after the Islanders more.

- Sufyan Shaikh was reported to be skipping ice hockey to keep himself fresh for Game Two and help his team close out the series.

- Award nominees have been announced on Social Media and the winners will be announced tonight after the finals, make sure to show up and support your teammates and brothers who are in line for some personal recognition along with the seeing this seasons Champion crowned!

Make sure to follow us and get your friends to follow us as well (this is another way you can help grow the league!):
- If you somehow missed it, here are some of the video clips the league has put up to start the season along with our Podcasts:
- Pre-Draft GM Interviews

- Listen in on our First League Podcast! Belal Hafeez of Shukr drops in with some health and fitness tips.
- Listen in on Podcast Two featuring Abdu Sharkawy and Ahmad "Black Panther" Ibrahim who weigh in on a number of topics
- Listen in on Podcast Three featuring Arif Khan and Hannan Ghafoor discussing the 2019 Wildcard Playoff games

Make sure to follow us and get your friends to follow us as well (this is another way you can help grow the league!):
Facebook: I-Slam Hockey
Twitter: iSlamHockey
Instagram: IslamHockeyCanada
Youtube: IslamBallHockey

Friday, 19 April 2019

Spring Season - Week Fourteen - April 19th Finals!

- Week Fourteen featured the second game of the SemiFinals with Shukr dominating Ihsan to advance to the finals after a 5-2 win while Haya won Game Two over Ikhlas to force Overtime where Ikhlas got the most fortunate of bounces to steal a win and advance to the finals.

Three Stars of the Week for April 12th:

1st Star: Erfan Bhanapatel (Shukr): 4 Goals,GWG

2nd Star: Humza Chaudhry (Shukr): 3 Assists

3rd Star: Fahad Mohammad (Haya): 14 Saves

- A reminder again about Player Health and Safety and the need for players to wear a visor or cage while playing, accidents will happen and we want to ensure that everyone participates in a safe environment.

- When Shukr needed it the most their star players stepped up as Erfan Bhanapatel lit up the Ihsan defence for four goals while Humza Chaudhry was a force picking up three assists. With their stars picking up their play Shukr has to be confident going into the finals.

- After being written off by all the pundits, Haya put up a great effort in Game Two where they controlled a lot of the play but were not rewarded for their efforts until the final seconds when Humza Ali poked in a loose ball to give Haya a 1-0 win and force overtime. Fate can sometimes be cruel as Haya had chances early in overtime but did not convert and after a tripping penalty was called on Arssal Shahabuddin, Ikhlas got the space they needed to try and get a goal. Tahir Maarouf made the veteran play to shoot the ball wide of the net to avoid getting blocked but had his shot hit the partition and go towards the net where Fahad Mohammad had to try and awkwardly deal with the shot - it hit the rim of his glove and deflected into the net giving Ikhlas the win.

- Both semifinal games had some unfortunate injuries, Faraaz Alvi of Shukr took an unexpected hit from an Ihsan player with the ball trying to create space and went down with what was believed to be a mild concussion and neck injury. To be safe paramedics were called to make sure nothing worse had happened. For Ikhlas, Luqman Arshad and Abu Manjra collided with both players going down and pair of scary injuries, thankfully Abdu Sharkawy of Haya there to treat the players, for Alvi making sure that no further damage could happen before paramedics arrived while in the latter case patching up Arshad who sustained a nasty cut. Sharkawy suggested that both players in the Ikhlas incident sit as both were visibly shaken but Kashif "Coach K" Taqiuddin was having none of that as he pushed both players back out onto the floor as soon as possible seeing that Ikhlas was on their heels.

- Ikhlas had some injury issues during the game but Haya had their own problems to deal with as Abdu Sharkawy was playing through a back and calf issue while right before the second period Haya also lost defensemen Omar Essawi who had to rush to the hospital as his wife went into labour. He got there in time and mother and daughter are doing well which was good news to his teammates who insisted he go knowing that it would leave the team short on the backline.

- Many Ikhlas players seemed unaware of the rules around the Semifinals as after Haya scored in the final seconds to win Game Two, Ikhlas players derided their celebrations saying that Haya was still going to lose the series since Ikhlas won Game One by a 3-1 score. Mohammed Hamoudi was seen laughing at Haya until he was reminded by the refs that the series was not a two-game aggregate score like Champions League Soccer and the series was about to go to overtime. Suffice to say the Ikhlas mood right before the overtime period reflected their shock and explained their poor play where they seemed destined to lose.

- For Haya's equalizing goal, Zaid Toorawa made costly turnover while trying to shoot on an empty net, that allowed Haya to get possession back and ended up with them scoring with seconds left. Before Overtime started all of his teammates took turns chewing him out before Coach K took him to the side and gave him a final dressing down before leaving him in the corner of the bench alone. A moment captured here.

- The winning goal for Ikhlas was actually captured on video by some of the passionate fans of Ikhlas who positioned themselves behind Fahad Mohammad to heckle him hoping to make a difference for Ikhlas. No word if they did in fact do that but they managed to get the winner seen here.

- Ihsan will look back at what might have been this season as they entered the playoffs as the top seed, the top two scorers in the league and one of the best goalies. Their open style of play focused on scoring worked well in the regular season but left them exposed in the playoffs where they could not protect their goalie in front and saw them bow out.

- It may not be March anymore but with the top two seeds getting knocked out of the playoffs suffice to say many pundits have their brackets broken at this point.

- Looking to the finals there are a number of interesting storylines at play as these are two teams that seem to have multiple links to one another:
- Erfan Bhanapatel will be facing against his brother-in-law Abu Manjra
- Zaid Toorawa and Sufyan Shaikh will be facing their former team Shukr while Arslan Mian goes against Ikhlas. Mian has not fared well since leaving Ikhlas and the boo-birds that he faced and Coach K leading a "We Don't Need Him" chant seemed to rattle the young winger.
- Another clash amongst family as Ahmar Wasif of Ikhlas will face Ahsan Wasif on Shukr.

- Coach K is riding a high as his beloved Islanders swept the Penguins out of the NHL playoffs and his confidence as a result is at an all time high. When asked about what his plans are for Ikhlas in how they will shut down Shukr he noted that he has played with Humza Chaudhry for many years and knows his game and what it will take to lock him up. For Arslan Mian he felt that he has already done enough to throw the winger off his game and the stats prove it as Mian has struggled since joining Shukr.

- Congrats to the following players who based upon statistics locked up Regular Season Awards:

Razi Ahmed (Ihsan): Points Champion with 20 points
Emmad Khawaja (Yaqeen): Goal Scoring Leader with 9 goals
Ali Khwaja (Ridha): Lowest Goals against with a GAA of 1.64

Friday, 12 April 2019

Spring Season - Week Thirteen - April 12th Playoffs!

- Week Twelve featured the game one of the SemiFinals with Ihsan and Shurk ending in a 1-1 tie while Ikhlas dominated Haya for an easy 3-1 win.

Three Stars of the Week for April 6th:

1st Star: Abu Manjra (Ikhlas): 2 Goals,1 Assist

2nd Star: Ali Wadee (Shukr): 1 Goal, GTG

3rd Star: Mohammed Hamoud (Ikhlas): 1 Goal, 1 Assist

- A reminder again about Player Health and Safety and the need for players to wear a visor or cage while playing, accidents will happen and we want to ensure that everyone participates in a safe environment.

- The Ihsan vs Shukr match-up was everything pundits expected with a tight game featuring a lot of star power. Ihsan took an early lead as unsung hero Hannan Ghafoor who gave his team the lead in the first minute of the game. Neither team was able to connect until Shukr got a chance with the man advantage and Ali Wadee wired a point shot to tie the game up which is how it ended.

- Ikhlas vs Haya went as many predicted as Ikhlas came out flying and scoring on the first shift before adding a power play goal a few minutes later. A fluke bounce gave Haya a goal but Ikhlas never lost control of the game and an empty netter sealed the win.

- The Medina semifinal will be a winner take all after the first game ended in a tie, both teams are talented so this one will be a treat to watch.

- The Mecca semifinal has Ikhlas in the drivers seat as they dominated game one and only need to play for a tie in this game to advance to the finals.

- Observers were shocked at how dominant Ikhlas was in their game, holding Haya to a meagre four shots and maintaining possession of the ball for most of the game. Haya seemed to struggle in all aspects and the fact that they were not blown out is a testament to the play of goalie Fahad Mohammad who had to stop multiple breakaways and odd man rushes.

- There are trades that work out and some that don't, the Ihsan acquisition of Adeel Awan has been an under the radar steal as he has given a talented squad a steadying presence on D, physical presence with skill and a passionate leader. Another trade that has paid off is Ikhlas picking up Sufyan Shaikh and Zaid Toorawa as both have been instrumental to Ikhlas being the favourite to win the league with their speed and physical presence.

- Ikhlas dominated the physical play and was clearly under the skin of Haya players who seemed unable to handle the pressure of the playoff atmosphere. A lot of praise was rightfully directed towards Kashif "Coach K" Taqiuddin who came up with a plan which eliminated Haya's offence and even when Ikhlas was shorthanded they got the better scoring chances.

- There are reports that Ihsan may be without Sahil Mohammad for this game and is considering dropping Hannan Ghafoor back to fill the void. Ghafoor actually scored his goal while playing on D but then moved to forward later in the game.

- Congrats to the following players who based upon statistics locked up Regular Season Awards:

Razi Ahmed (Ihsan): Points Champion with 20 points
Emmad Khawaja (Yaqeen): Goal Scoring Leader with 9 goals
Ali Khwaja (Ridha): Lowest Goals against with a GAA of 1.64

Friday, 5 April 2019

Spring Season - Week Twelve - April 5th Playoffs!

- Week Eleven featured the two wildcard games as Shukr opened the night with a dominant 4-1 win over Yaqeen in the first semi-final while the second game saw Ikhlas win a thriller in Overtime over Ridha.

Three Stars of the Week for March 29th:

1st Star: Humza Chaudhry (Shukr): 3 Goals,GWG

2nd Star: Akib Malik (Ikhlas): 1 Goal, GWG

3rd Star: Osman Buttar (Shukr): 3 Assists

- A reminder again about Player Health and Safety and the need for players to wear a visor or cage while playing, accidents will happen and we want to ensure that everyone participates in a safe environment.

- Shukr dominated Yaqeen but keep in mind that Yaqeen was missing one of their top players and leading scorer Emmad Khawaja which was too large a whole for the team to fill against Shukr - hence the reminder above about wearing a visor. That said Shukr did get a great performance from young Humza Chaudhry who was a man possessed out there putting up a hat-trick including the game winner. They will need more of that if Shukr wants to advance past first place Ihsan.

- Ikhlas and Ridha was a great back and forth affair with Ikhlas taking the lead twice in regulation only to have Ridha tie it up. The last Ikhlas goal was in Overtime which ended the affair as a breakdown in coverage left Akib Malik all alone in the slot where he finished off the game with a wrist shot to the top corner to the net.

- Shukr finally saw Arslan Mian hit the scoresheet as he had been pointless since being acquired in a big trade during the season. He had been moved to the second line in an attempt to take pressure off him to produce with longtime linemate Humza Chaudhry.

- Kashif "Coach K" Taqiuddin boldly claimed before his game that "he doesn't coach losers" and he was right this past week as his gameplan contained Ridha's top line for most of the game. A tight checking affair that saw his team take the lead multiple times and eventually secure the win in Overtime after some great forechecking against Ridha's best players.

- Ihsan will enter their game against Shukr as the favourite with their high scoring offence. It will be interesting to see these teams match-up considering that they are all teammates in other leagues. Also the family dynamics with some cousins lining up against each other.

- It will be interesting to see how Haya performs this Friday after sitting for the bye week and having some of their key players resting the last week of the season. The time off may make them a bit fresher but also a bit rusty so they will have to be strong right out of the gate against a hungry Ikhlas.

- Looking at the Ihsan vs Shukr match-up in a bit more detail, Ihsan comes in as the heavy favourite after finishing first overall in the league this season but Shukr was one of the few teams that gave them issues. The first meeting saw Shukr win 2-1 while the second meeting ended in a 1-1 tie.

- For Haya vs Ikhlas, it is actually the lower seeded team that many people are predicting to advance from this match-up. Ikhlas has lost only once in their last seven games and while the season series was split with each team winning a game it was Ikhlas who dominated the final meeting of the season between these teams. The trade that Ikhlas made to send Arslan Mian away and acquire Sufyan Shaikh and Zaid Toorawa has paid off greatly as both players have been a great boost for the teams offence.

- Congrats to the following players who based upon statistics locked up Regular Season Awards:

Razi Ahmed (Ihsan): Points Champion with 20 points
Emmad Khawaja (Yaqeen): Goal Scoring Leader with 9 goals
Ali Khwaja (Ridha): Lowest Goals against with a GAA of 1.64