Buckeye Newcomer Spotlight: Lauren Spring

Lauren Spring 

5'8, Forward – Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy

DOB: February 4, 1996

Shoots: Left

Since the inception of the girls program in 2009, the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy (POE) in Kelowna, BC, has produced more national, provincial, and collegiate players than Taylor Swift songs about her ex-boyfriends.

Ok, maybe the country music star hasn't had that many ex's. 

However, I think you get the point.

The Academy in British Columbia is doing something right.

Lauren Spring, a Kelowna native, is one of those fine-tuned machines produced from the Canadian hockey factory. She will be making the over 2,300 mile trek to her new home in Columbus very soon.

The daughter of Don Spring, a former NHL player with the Winnipeg Jets and a member of Team Canada during the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, NY, Lauren has phenomenal hockey roots behind her.

So what does Spring bring along with her to head coach Nate Handrahan's team?

For starters, she's bright. This is the foundation for what every great hockey player needs to be successful. An honor roll student, Spring has a good head on her shoulders.

Not only does POE excel in developing hockey players, but the Academy stresses academics as well.

Here is an excerpt from their website regarding athletics:

“At the Pursuit of Excellence, we stress the importance of academics in all of our players. We strive to develop not just hockey players but student-athletes, student-athletes that are prepared for a rigorous college curriculum. Pursuit players are integrated into the George Elliot Secondary School system.....With the help of their excellence staff of teachers and advisors, our players are given the direction and knowledge to excel academically.”

Next comes puck handling ability. Spring's hands are quicker than Kim Kardashian's marriage to Kris Humphries. She's going to need them to be productive against the likes of some of the teams she will be facing.

Her experience winning a gold medal with Team Canada, along with future Buckeye Kassidy Sauve (see her story here), at the 2014 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship in Budapest, Hungary, will help further establish a winning culture on Woody Hayes Drive.

Spring's consistency producing points is the cherry on top. She racked up 32 points (9 goals, 23 assists) during 2012-13, and totaled 33 points (14 goals, 19 assists) during last year's odyssey.

Consistency during the course of a WCHA schedule, however, is another battle entirely.

Life in the toughest conference in college hockey is a challenge, one that I'm sure Lauren Spring is willing to take head on.

The previously mentioned hands:


A video showing a little bit about what the girls at POE do: