Game Time's TRENDING UP for week ending December 29, 2012

1. Two players make a return to the "Fab Five" this week after long absences, and one player makes his debut at Number One with a bullet. Under Jarmo Kekalainen's tutelage with Jokerit Helsinki, Teemu Eronen is quiety turning into one of the better scoring threats on defense in the system; Jake Allen played well despite taking a tough loss on the road for Peoria.

By Brian Weidler, "Game Time" Prospect Department

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THREE STAR SELECTIONS FOR THE WEEK ENDING 12-29-12

Transfer player Max Gardiner, a sophomore at Penn State in the Nittany Lions' first Division I season, tallied three assists on Saturday night to help power PSU past Ohio State in the consolation game of the Three Rivers Holiday Tournament in Pittsburgh. Gardiner, who played as a freshman at Minnesota in 2010-11 before spending 2011-12 in the USHL with Dubuque, is third in Penn State scoring this year with a 2-10-12 scoring line in 17 games, and makes his 2012-13 debut in the First Star position in the "Fab Five" for the last week.

Offensive defenseman Teemu Eronen takes Second Star honors this week with a pair of assists in two victories for Jokerit Helsinki in the Finnish Elite League (SM-Liiga).

This week's Third Star is Everett Silvertips (WHL) blueliner Nick Walters. The 2012 draftee (106th overall) isn't known for his offense, but he tallied assists in each of the two games he played last week, including a helper on the OT game-winner on Saturday night vs. Seattle.

Honorable Mentions for this past week go to Peoria goalie Jake Allen, who played well in a 2-1 loss at Milwaukee on Friday in his only appearance of the week, and overage (just turned 25) prospect Jori Lehtera of KHL side Sibir Novosibirsk.

The week ending Dec. 29 was a low-scoring week for Blues' prospects. Mackenzie Maceachern of the Chicago Steel (USHL) was the only prospect-age player to score a goal this week in the organization. Maceachern played two games for Chicago this week, with one goal, no penalty minutes, and a minus-1. Cade Fairchild and Jaden Schwartz each picked up a single assist in two games played last week for Peoria, while Cody Beach tallied an assist in his first game back with Evansville, the only game he appeared in during the week. Yannick Veilleux (Moncton/QMJHL) was the only major junior player in the organization to tally a solo assist during the past week.

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*** FIRST Star ***	** SECOND Star **	* THIRD Star *
Max GARDINER	Teemu ERONEN	Nick WALTERS
Penn State (NCAA)	Jokerit Helsinki (SML)	Everett (WHL)
** 2 games played this week	** 2 games played this week	** 2 games played this week
** 0 G, 3 A, plus-1	** 0 G, 2 A, plus-3	** 0 G, 2 A, plus-1
** 2 PM, 0 PP, 0 SH, 0 GW	** 0 PM, 0 PP, 0 SH, 0 GW	** 8 PM, 0 PP, 0 SH, 0 GW

HONORABLE MENTION:

JAKE ALLEN, G, Peoria (AHL): 1 GP, 59 mins, 2 GA, 0-1-0, 2.03 GAA, 90.9% save pct, 0 SO.

...

JORI LEHTERA, C/LW, Sibir Novosibirsk (KHL): 3 GP, 1-2-3, plus-4, 0 PM, 0 PP, 1 SH, 0 GW.

...

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THREE STAR POINT STANDINGS FOR THE WEEK ENDING 12-29-12

Players receive four points for being named First Star, three points for Second Star, two points for Third Star, and one point for Honorable Mention. The top ten prospects in the Three Star point standings for this week are as follows: