8:00 PM- Ihsan (0-0-1) vs Shukr (1-1-0):
In Week Two we got to see Ihsan (teal) for the first time. There was a lot of hype generated after the draft as GM Huzaifa Manjra constructed this team with many unknown players. Last Friday they came storming out of the gate with two goals from Ajmal Esmatyar and one from their last pick, Zulqarnain Imtiaz (if this becomes a regular occurrence he will be drafted much higher next season). With a 3-1 lead against Emaan and only 4 minutes left to play, Ihsan could not manage the pressure as they had to settle for a tie (although probably felt like a loss). They need to take the experience from this game and use it to learn how to finish games. Their opponents, Shukr (red) are coming off an impressive 4-2 win against Ridha. Prior to this victory we were wondering where the goals would come from for this team. We got our answer: Sulman Azm… sorry typo ;) Sufyan Kazi scored a hat trick in his I-Slam Hockey Debut. Two of his goals were on the power play. There is no doubt that Shukr will try to keep feeding him on the man advantage. Shukr has their eyes on the top spot in the Jerusalem division and win here could see them there by the end of the night.
Hamidi Prediction: Shukr win
9:00 PM- Yaqeen (1-0-1) vs Emaan (0-1-1):
This matchup features two teams from the Medina division. Yaqeen (white) goes for the sweep after defeating Emaan (orange) two weeks ago 5-2. The score is misleading as Emaan made a game and came very close in tying this contest (score was 3-2 before two empty net goals). Instead what happened was they saw Maaz Haq collect hats that night. In fact, the line of Maaz Haq, Suleman Bhatti and Arif Bijabhai combined for 9 points that night. Emaan must find a way to contain this line. It would also help if they don’t fall behind the eight-ball to start this game. In their two games so far, Emaan gets burnt in the first half, however in fairness to them they do come roaring back in the second half. At some point though it would be nice to have the lead instead of trying to dig yourself out of a hole you created. From Yaqeen’s perspective they probably have a little fire in their bellies after reading Emaan’s recap of Week 1. The recap threw some shade at Yaqeen’s victory and will probably serve as bulletin board material for their team What’sApp chat.
Hamidi Prediction: Yaqeen Win
10:00 PM Ikhlas (0-1-1) vs Sabr (2-0-0):
Sabr (yellow) looks to extend their win streak to three games against Mecca rivals Ikhlas (green). Last week these two teams faced each other with Sabr getting the win with 23 seconds left on the clock courtesy of Mohammad Bilal. With Sabr now going for the season sweep, Ikhlas needs to have better hockey sense and greater awareness of the clock. What I mean is the first 2 minutes and last 2 minutes of a period can be huge momentum swings in a game. Therefore, your team wants to avoid giving up a goal during those times. Unfortunate for Ikhlas Sabr scored all three of their goals at the beginning and ending of the period (Razi Ahmed with 6 seconds left in the first half, Rizwan Malik at the start of the second half and Mohammad Bilal as mentioned above). Another interesting fact is Ikhlas has seen leads evaporate (Week 1 against Haya and Week 2 against Sabr) and in result have left points on the table. This does not bode well for Ikhlas as it is expected that Aazar Zafar will soon be tied up with his Max Gala commitments; so they should show more urgency in securing points now while he is in their lineup (side note: if you haven’t been to a Max event make sure to check it out to see the exceptional work of Muslims throughout Canada). For Sabr, they can expect the rematch to be tougher than last week’s game as Mehmed Rizvanovic will probably in the lineup for Ikhlas (he was a DNP last week). Regardless of who Ikhlas does or does not have on Friday, Sabr needs to be more discipline (as stressed in last week’s previews). Their un-discipline play cost them last week as Ikhlas’ Salman Syed scored on a penalty shot. If you play with fire long enough, you will eventually get burned.
Hamidi Prediction: Tie
11:00 PM Taqwa (1-0-0) vs Ridha (0-2-0):
Ridha (teal) aka the “Young Guns” from Malton came from a gym league with high hopes of running things in I-Slam Hockey. Things have not turned out this way at all and in fact they are off to a disappointing start. Losers of two straight to start the season, both to teams within their division (Jerusalem)- Taqwa and Shukr. If Ridha goes on to lose a third straight game, then they can kiss the idea of finishing first in their group goodbye (Note: mathematically they won’t be out of the running but losing three of your four division games would make it hard for any team to win their division). The lone bright spot for this team has been Yusuf Ingar who has managed to score in both games so far. They will be relying on Ingar to do what he did in Week 1 and score at least a goal against Taqwa (black). Yes, this is a rematch from Week 1 where Taqwa emerged as victors 2-1. However, many felt that Ridha was owning the play in the last 10 minutes of the game but could not find a way to bury their chances. Whatever the case was, Ridha will be looking to avoid the season sweep at the hands of Taqwa who are coming off their bye week. It will be interested to see how Taqwa performs particularly in the first half. If they did not remain active (ie. get a run in, hit the gym, bike, etc.) then their bodies will be crying ‘uncle’ early and often throughout the game. However even if they did stay active nothing can quite simulate a hockey game. This means Taqwa is coming in with a little bit of rust, especially considering last week was their bye and the week before that there were no games. Therefore, they had a two-week layoff and now have to fend off a team starving for a win.
Hamidi Prediction: Ridha win
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