Fall Season - Week Twelve - December 15th

First Blood Friday: We move from ‘Frantic Friday’ to ‘First Blood Friday’. Either Haya or Shukr will be crowned the Fall-2017 I-Slam Hockey Champions. Congratulations to both of these teams for making it this far. They both managed to build chemistry with other brothers for the most part haven’t had a chance to play with. As a group of strangers, you were forced to go through the grind of the regular season together. These two were the best amongst the four other teams from learning from their failures. Now there is just one step left from attaining what you have been chasing these past four months: The I-Slam Cup. Tonight, you can’t win the championship trophy, in fact it won’t even be at the arena. However, what you can do is improve your odds in this two-week battle and send a message to the last remaining obstacle in your way. You might not be able to win the championship tonight, but with a loss, your team might not be able to recover by ‘Championship Friday’. Who draws first blood?

9:00 PM- Haya (3) vs Shukr (4): Regular Season series tied 1-1.
September 29th, 2017: Haya won 2-1. Furqan Salam (Haya) scored both goals in the first half as Haya held on for dear life being outshot 27 to 11 for the game. Credit for this victory has to go to Kaunain Saiyed (Haya) who only surrender a goal from Dawood Ciombor (Shukr) on a power play.

Notable absences from this game were Nauman Abbasi (Shukr) and Nadeem Faqiri (Haya). Fair questions to mull over: does Salam get those goals if Abbasi there? Faqiri would have had an effect on the outcome of this game…but how much of an impact? Well he is the reason why his team is in the finals (scoring the shootout winner against Emaan last week), so he has shown he can come up clutch in the big moments.

Three stars of this game: 1st: Kaunain Saiyed - 26 saves; 2nd: Furqan Salam - 2 goals; 3rd: Dawood Ciombor - 1 goal.

By the way here is Waqar Khan’s post game interview.

November 10th, 2017: Shukr won 4-3. Again, Shukr outshoots Haya, but this time the spread is by a closer margin, 20-16. Furqan Salam continues his dominance over Shukr and opened the scoring while his team was short-handed. Afterwards, just like he did on September 29th, Dawood Ciombor scored a goal on a powerplay to end the 1st half 1-1. Shukr was able to get to Saiyed this go around as Humza Ali (Shukr) and Kashif Taqiuddin (Shukr) found the back of the net. Haya would reply via an unlikely suspect, Jawad Majeed. As this game moved along both penalty boxes started to fill up. This would be the downfall for Haya as Ibrahim Hindy (Shukr) would make them pay with a power play goal. Waqar Khan (Haya) would respond late for his team, but it was not enough as Shukr emerged victorious this time around.

Notable absences from this game were Khalid Mufti (Shukr), Mohammed Hamoud (Shukr) and Salman Khalid (Haya). Food for thought: you got to think if Salman Khalid played this game his team would have been more disciplined… as a result… does Shukr get those two power play goals and come away with this victory? On the flip side Mufti and Hamoud are significant pieces for Shukr and would have made things more difficult for Haya on this night.

Three stars of this game: 1st: Ibrahim Hindy (Shukr) - 1G 2A; 2nd: Salman Alvi (Haya) - 2A; 3rd: Kashif Taqiuddin (Shukr) - 1G

Assessing these teams:
Goals for: Haya: 24 vs Shukr: 20
Goals Against: Haya: 25 vs Shukr: 15
Shots Allowed: Haya: 195 vs Shukr: 156
Top Goals Scorer: Haya - Furqan Salam (10) vs Shukr - Dawood Ciombor (5)
Points Leader: Haya - Furqan Salam (11) vs Shukr - Humza Ali (11)

Insider Analysis:
Offense: We give the edge to Haya. They have the guy who scored the most goals this season. If he is able to continue to produce and in anticipation of Waqar Khan being able to turn back the clock to the Spring of 2017 where he won the overall scoring title, it will be a long series for Shukr.

Defense: We give the edge to Shukr. Pretty much Nauman Abassi and Salman Khalid cancel each other out. You would think this would suggest that Haya would have the advantage with Junaid Mohammad patrolling the blue-line. However, we feel that the back-checking of Humza Ali will ultimately give Shukr the upper-hand and may very well determine the winner of this serious if Haya as a team cannot match his effort.

Goaltending: This one is a tricky one. Both goalies on Frantic Friday were superb. We are nit-picking here but Kaunain Saiyed did look a bit nervous especially in the early parts of the game last week against Emaan. But hey, give him credit for recovering and playing through the nerves. On the other side Khalid Mufti was a stud for his team, posting back to back shutouts. With this in mind, goaltending is a streaky position, you will have your good moments and you will have your bad moments… right now Mufti is red-hot. Not to mention he sported better numbers than his counterpart during the regular season. We give the edge to Shukr.

Fall Season - Week Eleven - December 8th

Frantic Friday:You start off getting drafted on to a team of brothers for the most part you haven’t had the chance to play with.  You build chemistry as your team goes through the rigors of the regular season. You have some success and you have some failures along the way. Your team earns a playoff spot and takes one step closer to the ultimate goal. But sadly for three teams that is as far as they will get… they will take to the locker room one last time this season… give farewell-Salaams to their teammates, knowing that they will see some of them in different colour uniforms for the upcoming spring season. Only two teams will survive ‘Frantic Friday’.     

8:00 PM - Wildcard: Shukr (4) vs Yaqeen (5)Background: Be careful for what you wish for. In the final week of the regular season Shukr (red) had the chance to send Yaqeen (white) home (and in turn avoid playing in this game). Yaqeen was down to their final breath needing to win last week so they could play in the wildcard game. When you have a chance to finish a team you got to take advantage. Shukr may regret what happened in Week 10 as now Yaqeen has a second life. After going through this war, one of these teams needs to reset and get ready to take on #-1 seed, Sabr (yellow), an hour after.

Yaqeen won season series: 1-0-1
In Game One they teams tied 0-0; Three Stars of that game: 1^st- Ahmad Mobin (Yaqeen); 2^nd Star- Mohammad Hamoud (Shukr); 3^rd Star: Arslan Mian (Yaqeen)

In Game Two, Yaqeen won 2-1:; Three Stars of that game: 1^st- Ahmad Mobin (Yaqeen); 2^nd Star- Jazib Khan (Yaqeen); 3^rd Star: Humza Ali (Shukr)

Goals For: Shukr - 5^th; Yaqeen - 6^th
Goals Against:  Shukr - 3^rd; Yaqeen - 5^th
Shots Allowed: Shukr - 156; Yaqeen - 204
Top Goal Scorer: Shukr - Dawood Ciombar (5); Yaqeen - Farrukh Khan (4)
Points Leader: Shukr - Humza Ali (13); Yaqeen - Farrukh Khan (8)

9:00 PM - Semi-Finals #1: Emaan (2) vs Haya (3)

Background: Last week, both of these teams were looking to avoid playing in the wildcard game. While they both accomplished not having to play an extra game, neither Emaan (orange) or Haya (grey) looked “playoff ready”. This is obvious last week for Haya with their 3-0 lost against Sabr (evening getting serenaded with the “Na-Na-Na-Na-Hey-Hey-Goodbye by the Sabr fanbase from the balcony). Also for Emaan despite winning 4-2 most observers would agree that Ikhlas (green) deserved a better fate. Neither team is riding a wave of momentum heading into this matchup. This will all become minor details for one of these teams, as the winner will be finals bound. Which team is able to recover from their respective (brief) slide and seize the moment?

Emaan won season series: 2-0

In Game One Emaan won 5-1; Three Stars of that game: 1^st- Saleem Malik (Emaan); 2^nd Star- Farooq Sani (Emaan); 3^rd Star: Yusuf Kapoor (Emaan)

In Game Two, Emaan won 2-1; Three Stars of that game: 1^st- Idrees Deen (Emaan); 2^nd Star- Junaid Mohammed (Haya); 3^rd Star: Farooq Sani (Emaan)

Goals For: Emaan - 2^nd ; Haya - 3^rd
Goals Against:  Emaan - 2^nd; Haya - 4th
Shots Allowed: Emaan - 142 ; Haya - 195
Top Goal Scorer: Emaan - Saleem Malik (5); Haya - Furqan Salam (10)
Points Leader: Emaan - Saleem Malik & Farooq Sani (11); Haya - Furqan Salam (12)

10:00 PM- Semi-Finals #2: Shukr(4)/Yaqeen (5) vs Sabr (1)

Background: Sabr should in theory get a tired team. This is the advantage they have earned by way of finishing first in the regular season standings. However, despite their impressive campaign, it is a bit concerning when a team’s main core are rookies to I-Slam Hockey. How do these first-timers handle the pressure? Playing in other leagues where you can sign up a group of your buddies season after season is vastly different than I-Slam Hockey; your teammates become your opponents next season. You can tell this group gets along well, but again it begs the question how do they deal with the pressure of knowing tonight might be their last game of the season?  

Sabr vs Shukr:  Shukr has played Sabr tough in both regular season contest, however Sabr won season series 2-0 (Game One: 1-0 & Game Two: 2-0)

Sabr vs Yaqeen: Sabr had an easier time with Yaqeen during the regular season, however their latest encounter was a close contest that saw Yaqeen have a lead to start the 2^nd half. Sabr won season series 2-0 (Game One: 6-0 & Game Two: 3-1) 

Goals For: Sabr -1st
Goals Against:  Sabr -1st
Shots Allowed: Sabr -124
Top Goal Scorer: Sabr - Maaz Haq (6)
Points Leader: Sabr - Maaz Haq (18)

Fall Season - Week Ten - December 1st

8:00 PM- Emaan vs Ikhlas:
What the heck happened to Emaan (orange) in Week Nine?  They seemed to have everything rolling just in time for the playoffs with big wins against Sabr (yellow) and Haya (grey).  But they took a major step backwards in their last game, losing 2-1 against Shukr (red).  Now this puts them in some hot water!  If they lose again this Friday, Emaan can drop all the way down to fourth (depending if Shukr & Haya win their games).  This would mean they would have to play the extra wildcard game. The wildcard winner will have to find a way to recover and play another do-or-die game against Sabr (yellow) the same night.  For Ikhlas (green), they will gladly take playing in that wildcard game.  All they want is the opportunity to keep their hopes of hoisting the I-Slam Cup alive for at least one more week.  Ikhlas showed a lot of spirit last week against Haya - however, they came up short in the Battle of Cambridge losing 4-2.  If Ikhlas is able to win on Friday, they will send Yaqeen (white) home and can punch their ticket to the big dance.  On the other hand, if Emaan wins this game, team Ikhlas will lose control of their destiny and be forced to nervously watch the outcome of the 10 pm game.

9:00 PM- Sabr vs Haya:
The last time these teams met it was the must-see game of the season (view highlights here).  In their first encounter Haya put an end to Sabr’s undefeated streak.  Since then both teams encountered some rough patches leading up to this game.  Specifically, Emaan was able to defeat both Sabr and Haya. Haya also took a surprising ‘L’ against Shukr (score 4-3) a few weeks back.  So where do we stand now?  On the surface this game has a bit more meaning for Haya (as Sabr has already clinched first overall).  For Haya, they are looking to avoid playing in the wildcard game (which would mean having 2 single elimination games in one night).  A win on Friday for Haya would avoid this scenario.  A loss combined with a Shukr win (at 10 pm) would make Haya’s path to the finals immensely more difficult.  Diving a bit deeper, let’s not over-look the potential psychological warfare.  Think about it… Most feel that these two teams will be in the finals.  With that said, if Sabr loses yet again to Haya, Sabr will enter the playoffs knowing there is one team they haven’t been able to solve.  Don’t kid yourself, this would be on their minds all post-season if Haya comes away with the “W” tonight.  As well, the value of momentum heading into the playoffs often predicts post-season success; likewise, teams heading in the wrong direction at the end of the season typically have a harder time getting things back on track.  On that note, both teams are chomping at the bit to kill their rival’s momentum heading into the second season.

10:00 PM- Shukr vs Yaqeen:
Sorry to be repetitive but if you read the previews for the other two games, you know that Shukr will be looking to avoid the wildcard game next week.  Depending if either Emaan or Haya lose or tie their respective games, Shukr has a chance to avoid this scenario.  From the other perspective, just like Ikhlas, Yaqeen will more than welcome playing in the wildcard game.  The only way this can happen is Yaqeen needs to get one more point than Ikhlas.  Yaqeen is lying on their deathbed needing Emaan to do them a huge favour while at the same time taking care of business on their end.  If the night goes Yaqeen’s way they will set up a rematch with Shukr for the wildcard game.  In Week Nine, Yaqeen showed a lot of heart against the top-ranked Sabr.  They even held a 1-0 lead heading into the 2nd half.  Unfortunately for them, they ended up losing that game 3-1.  While they showed significant improvement in comparison to how their season has been going they don’t have time for moral victories.  They have no other option now…