Week Six - October 24th

Emaan vs. Ihsan

10PM

Emaan is fresh off a spirited game against Taqwa in which they battled back from 2-1, 3-2, and 4-3 deficits and brought the game to a tie with 1:42 left in the game.

Umair Awan and Arif Bijabhai finally came alive and contributed some big goals, along with Hisham Ali who has been the most consistent producer for Emaan. And in more Emaan related news, Emaan has replaced Haseeb Syed (knee injury) with big center Hassan Badreddine who is expected to make his I-Slam Hockey debut this Friday.

While Tier-1 defensemen are relieved that they will no longer have to deal with Syed bearing down on them at full speed, Hassan represents the big center with a lethal shot that Emaan has been missing all season. This replacement might make them contenders as it gives them an element they were sorely missing.

Ihsan is coming off a bye week and playing the high flying Emaan is going to be a struggle. The first 5 minutes are going to be critical as Ihsan will have to find a way to weather the storm.

Player to Watch: Hassan Badreddine's debut will certainly draw attention. He likely has the best wrist/snap shot in Tier-1 and can be deadly if left unattended.

Who's Hot: Sajjid Ayubi has a league leading 5 goals this season and will need to be watched closely by his opposition.

Sabr vs. Taqwa

11PM

For a team that loaded up on a tremendous amount of talent, Taqwa likely didn't envision themselves at the bottom of the standings after 5 games. And here they face their bitter rivals Sabr, who hold a game in hand on them. Not to get ahead of myself, but if Sabr wins, Taqwa will be in a dogfight just to make the playoffs.  

Taqwa kept putting up the goals against Emaan last week but it never seemed enough. Taqwa might need to reach the realization that no matter who their goalie is, there is no substitute for good team defense.

Meanwhile, Sabr's last game was hardly a masterpiece. They were thoroughly outplayed and outpossessed by Emaan and yet pulled out the win on the back of Imran Patel who once again registered a huge goal. In my opinion, this has been Patel's most dominant performance in I-Slam Hockey - and that's saying a lot. His contributions can't be fully appreciated looking at the stats sheet, but he's been impactful in every game and Taqwa will certainly need to stay close to him.

Taqwa has also lost center Camran Baig to a wrist injury and have replaced him with youngster Dani Umar.

Player to Watch: I wouldn't say Ibad Khan has played badly, but he also hasn't stolen a game yet. I'm interested to see his performance in this critical match.

Who's Hot: Sami Choudhry is fresh off a 4 point performance and has 8 on the season already (tied for league lead).