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Ppe 18u prep?


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https://990finder.foundationcenter.org/990results.aspx?990_type=&fn=penguins+foundation&st=PA&zp=&ei=&fy=&action=Search

Over half a million dollars went from the Penguins Foundation to the PPE over the last 3 years. I guess this the "tax shelter" of which was referenced above. You couple this with whatever the Dick's sponsorship amount is and one has to wonder how and why the fees continue to rise.

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1 minute ago, sadday4hockey said:

https://990finder.foundationcenter.org/990results.aspx?990_type=&fn=penguins+foundation&st=PA&zp=&ei=&fy=&action=Search

Over half a million dollars went from the Penguins Foundation to the PPE over the last 3 years. I guess this the "tax shelter" of which was referenced above. You couple this with whatever the Dick's sponsorship amount is and one has to wonder how and why the fees continue to rise.

Don’t forget the 50/50 raffle at every pro home game, 20-40k a game going into the pens pockets “thanks for helping raising money for Pittsburgh youth hockey and the penguins elite program”. 

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5 minutes ago, The King said:

This is why I cringe when I hear people say things like “it’s about the kids” or “just let them have fun”. Every initiative that the governing bodies have taken on for 15-20 years has been motivated by money. Don’t forget these 2 words-Greed and self preservation. Many people have exploited this sport for those reasons. It’s just capitalism. The genius is in targeting certain markets and strong arming them without them noticing. They’ve monopolized the sport and taken possession of the memberships’ earnings without even the slightest wince from them. 

I’m glad my oldest is done and my second is graduating. They loved the game, played at high levels. As a parent I feel this is the perfect time to be out of this hamster wheel of money sucking sport. 
 

I really wish the state AG would investigate the pens but that’s never going to happen. I’m sure when you look at the upmc side of things, the amount of money is not comprehendible to us common folk.  

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On 1/22/2020 at 3:51 PM, PuckHead7 said:

Lets set the record straight!  I never said that they were the same entity or that they are run by the same people. My point is, NC and the Prep team will be fighting for the same players. If the prep team requires the players to attend Excel, they will obviously need to attend North Catholic.  That still means that the varsity North Catholic team goes down the tubes.

A lot of this conversation was hearsay until today. Reading through the information cleared many things up.

By that logic, Excel should have sent the school team down the tubes from the get go...it didn’t.  It’s growing.

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8 hours ago, Danner27 said:

I’m glad my oldest is done and my second is graduating. They loved the game, played at high levels. As a parent I feel this is the perfect time to be out of this hamster wheel of money sucking sport. 
 

I really wish the state AG would investigate the pens but that’s never going to happen. I’m sure when you look at the upmc side of things, the amount of money is not comprehendible to us common folk.  

Investigate them for what, exactly? Specific examples, please. I'm seriously asking, I don't understand. 

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8 hours ago, hockeydeke said:

By that logic, Excel should have sent the school team down the tubes from the get go...it didn’t.  It’s growing.

People seem to have a difficult time grasping the concept that there are actually a good number of hockey players in this school, good hockey players, that aren't in Excel, and have been in the program before Excel ever existed. It's a school just like any other school. Neither Excel or the Pittsburgh Penguins define North Catholic Ice Hockey. If Vincention or Eden Christian Academy were a mile and a half away from the rink instead, you can bet they would be the ones hosting Excel, and North Catholic would still have a hockey program.

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nemesis-I never thought about the UPMC side of thi$...UPMC-Non profit-PPE-Non profit-Dicks is the corporate sponsor.  What exactly is there to pay for?  

Quite the conspiracy theory-I must say an investigation into the Pens and UPMC (a no employee company) for tax reasons would be interesting to see.  Should Dicks be involved in this?

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2 hours ago, Bob Loblaw said:

People seem to have a difficult time grasping the concept that there are actually a good number of hockey players in this school, good hockey players, that aren't in Excel, and have been in the program before Excel ever existed. It's a school just like any other school. Neither Excel or the Pittsburgh Penguins define North Catholic Ice Hockey. If Vincention or Eden Christian Academy were a mile and a half away from the rink instead, you can bet they would be the ones hosting Excel, and North Catholic would still have a hockey program.

I agree.  The kids at Excel and on the Prep team will only be students at North Catholic due to their arrangement with the PPE.  These kids never had any intention of playing on a PIHL team.   There are other kids who attend North Catholic who want to play hockey.  Thus, North Catholic has PIHL teams. 

Edited by twoboys
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17 minutes ago, RegDunlop7 said:

NC has 575 total students; let's assume half are boys and round to 300 to be conservative. You're saying a school with 300 boys has 18-20 18U AAA/Prep-level hockey players without the help of Excel and/or Pens Elite recruiting them? Seems like a long shot. Also, if that were the case, NC wouldn't be playing PIHL A hockey.

What are you talking about? That's not at all what I said. Did you even read what I said?  @twoboys understood it.

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16 minutes ago, RegDunlop7 said:

NC has 575 total students; let's assume half are boys and round to 300 to be conservative. You're saying a school with 300 boys has 18-20 18U AAA/Prep-level hockey players without the help of Excel and/or Pens Elite recruiting them? Seems like a long shot. Also, if that were the case, NC wouldn't be playing PIHL A hockey.

It’s not about having 18-20 AAA players....no team has that.  And given that PPE does not allow its players to play PIHL...the PIHL high school program is doing just fine.  And NC’s slotting in A is simply a function of PIHL’s system...if NC had 20 AAA players it would STILL be “A”.  And it is not hard to argue that they are playing at a AA level given their record and could probably be competitive with a few AAA teams.   There is so little overlap right now between Excel the NC PIHL team and both are doing fine.   It will be interesting to see if the PPE 18U prep allows its players to play in PIHL at the same time like Esmark does.

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31 minutes ago, RegDunlop7 said:

Agreed, I misinterpreted @Bob Loblaw's post.

 

A, AA, AAA -- honestly, they're all synonymous for the PIHL as the quality of hockey has been steadily declining since the early 2010s. If I were playing for Pens Elite or Esmark, I wouldn't waste my time with the PIHL.

In all fairness, you are speaking from a parent POV.  The fact is many kids at this age play for one team ( and sometimes not by choice ), and that one team is their school team because of the social aspect of it.  Let's be real here - how many of these kids will make a living playing hockey?  Sure, if Parent A has an elite level kid and wants to shell out $15K to play PPE that is their choice.   

I know for a fact without naming names, of a kid that played PPE Gold since its inception.  Great kid, fantastic hockey player that never played in PIHL until his senior year of high school.  He told me the most fun he had ever had playing the game was when he played for his school.  

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Hate to bust some bubbles, half of the NC varsity team are excel kids. I personally know three of them. NC doesn’t have enough kids that are just NC student’s to field a varsity team. 
 

also, the statement - if any other school was close to the upmc rink, that would be the school involved with excel is completely wrong. Moorehouse is an alum of NC. That rink was suppose to be built down by camp horn, moorehouse worked with butler county on tax breaks and NC to have the rink built where it is. Who’s paying for the new exit being built off 79 that goes right to rink ? It’s not the state nor the Penguins. It’s the cranberry tax payers. 

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1 hour ago, Danner27 said:

Hate to bust some bubbles, half of the NC varsity team are excel kids. I personally know three of them. NC doesn’t have enough kids that are just NC student’s to field a varsity team. 

Then you know the ONLY 3 there actually are. That is out of a roster of 19 or 20 I believe.  Hardly “half”.

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2 hours ago, The King said:

What does making a living playing hockey have to do with any decision a young athlete makes? This narrative is so tired and played out. It’s also indicative of the culture overall. Does any kid make a living out of Boy Scouts? If you’re kid has to take Trigonometry, are you on a message board denouncing it’s merits because they won’t make a career out of it? Some people, believe it or not, actually find challenge and competition fun and enriching. I’ve Resigned myself to the fact that the utopian, trophy for all culture is here to stay. I get that the youth of America is changed for good. But the adults that feed into because they’re Beta personalities and for once in their lives don’t have to fear their peers is just grotesque. Just my opinion. 
 

And the story about the kid quitting travel as a senior has been told since the ‘70’s. The name has Changed but it’s the same cautionary tale I’ve heard 1000 times. Thanks

Where did I say the kid I referred to quit travel hockey as a senior?

Thanks.

Edited by fafa fohi
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19 minutes ago, hockeydeke said:

Then you know the ONLY 3 there actually are. That is out of a roster of 19 or 20 I believe.  Hardly “half”.

I just looked at their roster, we can’t name kids here but do a little research. You’ll find kids from Canada, kazastan, Ohio and some other states. I personally know a kid from NA that goes to nc/excel to hopefully make PPE someday, he is On the NC varsity team. With out excel NC would not have a varsity team. Their are also two 18u esmark kids that do excel / NC on the NC varsity team. 

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1 hour ago, The King said:

All very Interesting. Now, I think part of the issue here is that many of these folks don’t have a proper understanding of the Excel academy. Its not really a new concept. Ontario Hockey Academy ring a bell. There have been other posters on here touting similar Academies (Lake Tahoe?). These are not traditional Academies like SSA or Prep schools in NE. They’re rink based hockey programs that use a local HS as their academic entity. Most, of not all, Excel players should be eligible for PIHL hockey if they’re enrolled. My guess is they choose not to. Why would they? Here’s what I can say to best exemplify why they would and what Excel is. If the Pens were simply forcing or mandating that their players go to Excel, they failed miserably. I would bet less than half of the Pens U18 or U16 players attended NC. So how does Excel still exists? Isn’t it possible that people would put their players in the Excel program believing they had a leg up on PPE roster spots? Maybe the black team players or maybe long time PPE players that are just entering the Midget level, felt that joining Excel was their ticket. Then they get cut. So they’re still Excel players at NC but don’t have a team to play for. Has anyone seen Excel tryouts listed? Is it possible that NC’s PIHL team is now the beneficiary of the Excel players that were stuck without a team? But they’ve also found a new way around the recruiting hurdle for private schools. Not unlike Lincoln Park and their Basketball players. The term Prep is loosely used in this instance with PPE. It’s not a Preparatory Academy. But they will compete as one nationally. As @Danner27 said, they’ve figured out a way to control the entire market. It’s been in the works for many years. 

The unfortunate part, the average consumer is not educated. 
the main reason NC has any hockey players is to try and get a leg up for PPE. They are all their for that reason. The ones that say they are not are the ones who’s kids did not or could not make PPE. This year they have separated PPE players for EXCEL / NC in the looker rooms even though they all go out on the ice together. Yes segregation lmao! Part of the reason was to keep what the ppe kids do on the down low. (remember a very highly recruited 03 smoking pot last year and the locker room fight ?) now this topic will soon be removed. 

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26 minutes ago, The King said:

*head slap**sigh* I said the story has been told a million times so the name changes. I’m sure inconsequential details change as well. You said his senior year of high school he played was the most fun. You’re regurgitating a stock cautionary fable you heard at the rink inserting your own vague details. Thanks for the story Aesop.

Clearly your reading comprehension skills are waning, kid.  Now you are backtracking and deflecting which makes zero sense.  Not unlike most of your posts with typical flame throwing and insults.

Now you are saying my story was made up?  OK, here are some clues because he told me personally.  PPE kid since inception, played U18 PPE along with senior year of PIHL and now plays juniors.

You've now called me a liar about something / someone you know nothing about.  Instead of accepting it you go on your rant.  Facts are ugly sometimes, but they remain facts.  Let it go and move on.

Edited by fafa fohi
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54 minutes ago, Danner27 said:

I just looked at their roster, we can’t name kids here but do a little research. You’ll find kids from Canada, kazastan, Ohio and some other states. I personally know a kid from NA that goes to nc/excel to hopefully make PPE someday, he is On the NC varsity team. With out excel NC would not have a varsity team. Their are also two 18u esmark kids that do excel / NC on the NC varsity team. 

I did a little research.  Here is what I found.

rostered 21

active roster 20 (one player has not played in a single game)

number of active rostered players in Excel is 4.

that is 20%...a far cry from the “over half” stated.

There is only one Esmark player on the team and that player is not in Excel.

So...might want to check your own research.  In mine I discovered it was 4 instead of the 3.

Regardless, there is no basis for the argument that NC would not exist if it were not for Excel...certainly on the false notion that “over half” are Excel.

 

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