PREP successfully completed an on-line election (Annual Meeting) for the Board of Directors. Three candidates were running for Three open positions. There were a total of 59 eligible votes, and each candidate received a majority of approve votes out of the 32 total votes cast.

Therefore, Carrie Graziani, Erin Mattes, and Mary McCann have been elected to fill the open positions for a term of two years.

The official transition of board members will take place during the next Board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, April 20th starting at 7:30 pm.

One of the first actions of the new board is to determine the officers of PREP, including President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary/Registrar. In addition to the officer positions, a Board member, who is not an officer, shall serve as Chairperson of the Rules & Ethics Committee.

Please join me in welcoming the new members to the PREP Hockey Board.

Sincerely,

Fred Stein

To all PREP Hockey Families,

We will hold our annual meeting scheduled to start between 6:00 and 6:45 on Thursday April 8th. The Fall season award banquet will follow immediately after the adjournment of that meeting. Everyone will receive an EVITE next week with details on the banquet.

The election for the new board of directors for the 2021 PREP hockey board will be sent out via email survey the week prior on March 29th. Members will have one week to submit their votes for the candidates and we will announce the new directors at the annual meeting on April 8th.

Any questions or concerns please email any of the board members.

Good Luck to all the teams playing this weekend!

Go PREP!

Fred Stein

PREP JV Black traveled to Carmel, IN, just north of Indianapolis on Presidents Day Weekend, for a Big Bear Tournament. We knew it was going to be a tough weekend with only 8 Forwards, 4 Defensemen, and one Goaltender able to make the trip. Plus we were starting the weekend playing the Lake Forest JV Gold team, whom we last saw in our 2019-20 IHSHL League Championship Game, losing that game 4-3 with 3.7 seconds remaining. So for 5 returning PREP players, a sense of revenge was a source of inspiration. But it was newcomer Matt Coffey, and two players promoted from Gold, Steve Christerson and Cooper Moellenkamp, putting 3 pucks in the net leading PREP to a 3-1 win.

Next up was the Fort Wayne Force U16 Travel team. In what started out as an uneventful game with PREP down 1-0 after one period which saw PREP penalized twice in that period after committing zero penalties in the prior game, it evolved into a penalty filled contest with PREP killing the first of 6 straight penalties, the game recording 18 penalties overall, the Head Referee in a 4-man system using profanity directed towards PREP Coach Kevin McAloon but behind his back, and a Rough and Cross-Check 3rd period laced with much trash talk. But PREP bounced back from their deficit with two more players promoted from within, Josh Gardner and Kou Tsuchiya netting goals, and the GWG/SHG coming from veteran Nick Pianetto.

The following day saw a rematch against PREP’s most daunting IHSHL opponent the last three seasons, Lake Forest Gold. This game saw PREP take an early lead with yet another Gold promotion, Chris Vanderkelen, scoring in the first. After a scoreless 2nd, a combined 5 goals were scored. Of the first four, One was Vanderkelen again, and three were for Lake Forest, their third to go ahead with 1:49 remaining. But the scoring was not over with veteran Tyler Filippelli, no stranger to big goals late in games, scoring the tying goal with the extra attacker at 0:05 remaining, ending Lake Forest’s bid for a Tournament Championship.

That evening provided a much needed opportunity for the players to share a meal back at the hotel, as well as Coach McAloon and Coach Matt LaCavera to socialize with the player’s parents. Special thanks to Team Manager, Susie Moellenkamp, for putting that together, and making sure the Coaching Staff could concentrate on bringing home the wins.

The final game pitted PREP against Fort Wayne, which definitely lived up to the hype created in their prior meeting. PREP needed a win or a tie to finish in first and bring home a Championship Banned. Fort Wayne needed a win here and a tie with some ugly math or a win in their next game yet to be played in order to finish in first. A continuation of their first meeting continued with 23 penalties being assessed in this game, and a couple stoppages for the 4-man crew to discuss suggestions correctly offered by Coach McAloon on penalty timing and faceoff locations, this time met with gratitude from the Linesman, whom the prior evening had been the Referee not so appreciative of Coach McAloon’s suggestions. Fort Wayne scored first on a PPG, in the 2nd period keeping their hopes alive for a Championship, but it was Gardner for PREP scoring his second of the tournament, to give PREP the tying goal, and the scoring would stand to give PREP the Tournament Championship. This capped off a great weekend, with PREP going in with 12 Skaters and one Goaltender. It truly was a team effort with Helpers being recorded by Gardner, Tsuchiya, Lenny Sexton, Captain Caden Hansen, Kamil Skowyra, and Christerson. Luca Bir played remarkable at his Defenseman position, and Mitch Buczek earned Tournament MVP by making some huge saves, and more importantly saving the ones he is expected to save, keeping us in every game.