Bill Kostkas - The FHL Trade Deadline

The FHL would like to introduce a new part-time writer for the website, Bill Kostkas. Bill is a 2007 grad of Steel Valley and currently attends Slippery Rock where he contributes to their school newspaper. He also operates a blog called 'The Barstool". We're excited to have him on board. With the Franklin Hockey League trading deadline looming on us this Friday, not much action is expected to hit the wire. I’m here to remind everyone that there is a good chance that is far from the truth. Last year, just 6 minutes prior to the 11 p.m. deadline, the Hawks and the Pirates made FHL history with the league’s only deadline deal. The Pirates sent Jeff Rogers and Dan Rojtas to the Hawks for Shane Lucas, Brian Hreha and Drew Hruska. The bargaining chip n the deal was Hruska, who ended up finishing sixth in the FHL in points (37), fourth in assists (19) and eighth in goals (18). The trade was effective for the Pirates, who went 6-2 after the trade, propelling them into the FHL Championship, where they lost to the Jets. Unfortunately the trade wasn’t effective for the Hawks, who lost six of seven games after the trade, winning only one game against Bishop Boyle due to forfeit. Two members of the Kings, Zack Wahal and Mike Stadleman will be expected to be big targets come Friday. The Kings currently sit in last place, and will be looking to do anything possible to improve their chances down the stretch. Rojtas might be on the move for the second year in a row. The Crosby's have made it known that they would be interested in acquiring more depth if the right opportunity presented itself. A move for Wahal, Stadleman or Rojtas would make the most sense in terms of getting back depth and talent. Don’t be surprised if the Crosby's keep to their word, because they have already made noise on the trade market. They previously acquired Hruska, Ryan Marino and Buddy Doyle. Underachieving Bishop Boyle now sits at 4-9, their worst record in franchise history. Captain Brian Grise has been known to be very active on the market. Earlier in the year they brought in Adam Pander, Mark Fetsko and Thomas Sheetz. A few names that might have popped up on Boyle’s radar are Brian Hreha, who has had a sub-par season thus far, and Jason Kortz, who hasn’t put up first round numbers as he was expected. Either move would be great value for Boyle. Since each team makes the playoffs in the FHL format, any deal that will be made by Friday’s 11 p.m. deadline will be strictly for playoff position. When the actual playoffs start in a few weeks, we will see who were the winners at the deadline, and who were the losers.