Oh boy, Ikhlas let a point slip away last week against Shukr. They were 19 seconds away from victory until Shukr’s Mehmed Rizvanovic scored the equalizer on the power play. Some good news for Ikhlas did come out of this game as waiver pickup Shuaib Hussein provided instant return on investment by picking up on assist on Akib Malik’s first goal of the season. Nonetheless, instead of celebrating a win they had to settle for a tie which felt more like a defeat. Ikhlas has a great opportunity to move on from their Week One collapse as they face off against a team who had the worst showing in the season opener.
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Emaan was embarrassed in Week One. When you get shutout and its run-time mercy rule, well that is the equivalent of getting dunked on. Losing 6-0 to Yaqeen, Week One must become a “forget me type of week” for Emaan. It should be noted that Yousuf Soliman did not take the floor, but still more was expected from this team compared to what they showed last week. I expect a big bounce back game from this team, especially last season’s championship winning goaltender Kaunain Saiyed. Whenever a goaltender has a bad game it is always interesting to see how he follows it up the next game as a proxy to his mental fortitude. They are up against a team that is also demoralized with the outcome of their first week. So, matching up with Ikhlas might help get Emaan going in the right direction.
9:00pm - Yaqeen (white) vs Shukr (red) - Mecca Conference
Yaqeen was the most impressive of the eight teams in Week One. Winning 6-0 against Emaan, they truly had a balanced attack where all but three players did not register a point. Standout performances included Nadeem Faqiri’s five-point explosion, which vaulted him to the top of the league scoring leaders and also Emmad Khawja depositing a pair of goals. In Week One, they scored four goals on their first seven shots. Realistically it is hard to envision Yaqeen’s offense being as precise this Friday. Their opponents, Shukr, are feeling mightily good about themselves after salvaging a point against Ikhlas (in Week One) with only 19 seconds remaining in regulation. As a result, they are riding the momentum right now. This in combination with Yaqeen coming into this game a bit over confident (after destroying Emaan) is looking like a Shukr grind out victory on Friday. Yaqeen can write their own alternate ending by paying close attention to Mehmed Rizvanovic (The Bosnian Beast), who accounted for both of Shukr goals last week.
10:00pm - Ridha (blue) vs Ihsan (teal) - Medina Conference
Some may argue that Ridha had the most impressive Week One. Take into consideration they had four different goal scorers (Saqib Sheikh, Shaukat Khan, Abdu Sharkawy and Shehryar Khan) and only gave up ten shots again (the fewest among all teams) one can make a case. On Friday they are matched up against Ihsan. All teams will face some form of adversity during the season, but man Ihsan’s test emerged in the first half on opening night - both Ahmad Mobin (their goaltender) and Humza Chaudhry sustained lower-body injuries and did not return to the game. Ihsan showed a lot of grit and character in their first game managing to make do with the lineup they had left and even got two goals past Ibad Khan (Emaan’s goaltender) courtesy of Zakariyah Kalair. Despite the adversity, Ihsan was only down a goal in the last minute of play. Although losers of a close contest, it was clear from last week when you face off against Ihsan they will make you work.
Also to remind everyone, these were the two teams that agreed on the 10-man blockbuster trade that had the entire league talking on social media (even guys not registered this season were weighing in!). Here is the trade again along with their Week 1 stats:
Ridha received: Farrukh Khan (DNP), Shehryar Khan (1 G), Ahmad Ibrahim (2A), AK (DNP), Bilal Khan (0 pts)
Ihsan received: Ijaz Chaudhry (2 A), Tayyab Kalair (0 pts), Faraz Alvi (0 pts), Idris Kalair (0 pts), Humza Amin (1 A)
It is near impossible to tell who won this trade from a one-game sample size. However, a direct head to head matchup for the players listed above can send a “how do you like me now?” message to the gm that decided to part ways from them.
11:00pm - Sabr (yellow) vs Haya (gray) - Medina Conference
Out of all the winners from Week One, Sabr was the least impressive. They barely beat Ihsan 4-2; as mentioned above Ihsan suffered critical injuries throughout the game. It really shouldn’t have been that close, but it was. Perhaps lack of team chemistry could partly explain their Week One performance. In the end as the wise saying goes, “don’t criticize a win”. It should be pointed out that Sabr did have a balance attack with four different players hitting the twine: Rameez Siddiqi, Yousuf Sowdagar, Waqar Khan and Farzan Alam. Tomorrow they will go up against Haya. There really isn’t much I can write up Haya… with only mustering a measly 10 shots on net, scoring zero goals, and allowing four goals (one short-handed) they had a miserable Week One. Notably, they were missing Ibrahim Hindy and hopefully for their sake he is in the lineup and can provide a spark for the boys.
It is near impossible to tell who won this trade from a one-game sample size. However, a direct head to head matchup for the players listed above can send a “how do you like me now?” message to the gm that decided to part ways from them.
11:00pm - Sabr (yellow) vs Haya (gray) - Medina Conference
Out of all the winners from Week One, Sabr was the least impressive. They barely beat Ihsan 4-2; as mentioned above Ihsan suffered critical injuries throughout the game. It really shouldn’t have been that close, but it was. Perhaps lack of team chemistry could partly explain their Week One performance. In the end as the wise saying goes, “don’t criticize a win”. It should be pointed out that Sabr did have a balance attack with four different players hitting the twine: Rameez Siddiqi, Yousuf Sowdagar, Waqar Khan and Farzan Alam. Tomorrow they will go up against Haya. There really isn’t much I can write up Haya… with only mustering a measly 10 shots on net, scoring zero goals, and allowing four goals (one short-handed) they had a miserable Week One. Notably, they were missing Ibrahim Hindy and hopefully for their sake he is in the lineup and can provide a spark for the boys.
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