Bill Kostkas - Trade Deadline Recap

As expected, the week prior to the FHL trading deadline was very eventful. It consisted of three deals that will have a lasting effect on the rest of the league up to the playoffs with exactly a month left to play in the regular season. The Kings were the most active team on the trade market this year, as they were featured in every deal that was agreed upon. The blockbuster deal of the week was the Kings shipping out Adam Christallini, who hasn’t made much of an impact all season, to the Pirates for Mark Zelena. In limited action this year, Zelena has amassed one goal and three assists. Despite Christallini not having played to his full potential, everyone knows the dual threat he represents on both offense and defense. He was a 20 goal scorer just a year ago. The week started off with the Crosby’s agreeing to terms with the Kings to send over Matt Musiol for Neil Murray. It looks like a huge move for the Kings in the long run, not in the department of statistics, but in the department of experience. Musiol logged four years of ice time for Steel Valley High School when he was in school. The Kings then completed a two-for-one deal after sending Zack Wahal to Bishop Boyle for Ben Bobick and Tom Sheetz. The move bolsters a Kings lineup that finds itself in the cellar of the FHL standings, five games behind struggling Boyle. It was a slight step down for Sheetz and Bobick, who were dealt from one of the worst teams in the FHL to the actual worst. Sheetz is currently tied for seventh place in the FHL in points accumulated (21), 18 off of the leader Brian Barca, and is sixth in goals scored (13). Wahal has 13 points on the season, six goals and seven assists. There were winners at the deadline and there were losers. The winners have to be the entire lower echelon of the FHL. The Kings, Boyle and the Pirates, who currently make up the bottom of the standings all were active last week. The second place Crosby’s were the only team in the top-three to feel they needed to deepen their roster for a playoff run. Although those are the winners and losers for now, we will all learn the true winners and losers in two month’s time.