CRANBERRY TWP — The Pittsburgh Penguins believe the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex will be unmatched by any other hockey facility in the world, making it a major attraction for the region.

David Morehouse, president and CEO of the Penguins, spoke Friday morning to more than 200 people at the Community Development Corporation of Butler County's annual meeting at the Regional Learning Alliance.

“The Pittsburgh Penguins are really excited about our partnership with Cranberry and UPMC and the building that you see being put up in front of you,” he said of the 185,000-square-foot complex on Route 228 that also is visible from Interstate 79.

He said with two NHL-size ice rinks, as well as sports medicine and sports training facilities, the complex will serve as much more than a practice rink for the Penguins. It will be a global hub for hockey activity.

Morehouse said the Penguins have a verbal commitment with the National Hockey League to host the league's combine at the facility in two years. The combine is held before the annual NHL Entry Draft to evaluate eligible players from around the world.

He said the organization also is talking to national teams about conducting training camps and providing other services leading up to the World Cup of Hockey, which is an international ice hockey tournament in off-Olympics years. It is set to return in September 2016 to Toronto after a 12-year hiatus.

While those deals are just in the discussion stage, the facility will host the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, which is Western Pennsylvania's premier amateur hockey organization. Morehouse said the league has about 600 of the most talented players from the region and is expanding.

“Those kids will get the best training in the world,” he said.

He added the Pittsburgh region is producing more NHL-level talent than ever, pointing to the 2011 NHL Entry Draft that had four regional players — Brandon Saad of the Chicago Blackhawks, J.T. Miller of the New York Rangers, Vincent Trocheck of the Florida Panthers and John Gibson of the Anaheim Ducks — drafted in the first round.

Morehouse pointed out when those players were in high school, they had to leave the region to continue their dream of playing at the highest level.

“What we're trying to do is create an atmosphere where kids don't have to leave,” he said.

“They can stay in Pittsburgh, get the best coaching, the best training, the best competition, and live normal lives and not have to travel all around at a young age,” he said.

Morehouse, who oversees all aspects of one of the NHL's most successful franchises on the ice, said the organization's off-the-ice accomplishments are just as important.

“It's not what I do; it's what the organization does, and it's what the ownership asks us to do, which is focus on community interaction, building relationships, helping the region, using our position as a sports team to actually help people,” he said.

Example's of the organization's contributions include the Mario Lemieux Foundation, which has donated millions of dollars to cancer research; the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, which has partnered with Highmark to build dek hockey rinks around the region, including the one in Graham Park in Cranberry; and the Sidney Crosby's Little Penguins Learn to Play Hockey program, which has introduced the game to children ages 4 to 8 by providing free lessons and equipment.

“We want to make money. We want to win championships. But we want to do it in the right way,” Morehouse said, adding the complex, which is set to open in August, is just the next step in that direction.

As for the complex, Morehouse said, “It will give Cranberry and Butler County a world-class medical facility” and help attract more business to the region.

Morehouse said the same research, testing and training used by the Penguins will be available to the community, with the results being better injury treatment and prevention for all sports.

He said the facility will have advanced medical imaging, blood testing, a concussion center, orthopedic services, sports psychology and nutrition services.

The sports training center will offer both on- and off-ice training for hockey prospects and other types of athletes from around the world, he said.

“This is going to be, by far, the best facility in the NHL,” he said.

“Our mission is to be the best in sports,” he continued. “We try to do that in every area. This facility will be another piece in making that possible.”