first win as a King in the Arizona victory.Anze Kopit

Mitchell Mann grew up with the dream of playing football at Wembley but will settle for snooker at the Crucible after earning a World Championship debut. The Birmingham-based 24-year-old locked in his place at the tournament with a nail-biting 10-9 win over Thai showman Dechawat Poomjaeng on Wednesday, in the final qualifying round at Ponds Forge.Now he awaits Thursdays first-round draw, when along with the likes of fellow qualifiers Ding Junhui, Peter Ebdon, Ali Carter and Graeme Dott, he will be paired with a top-16 seed. At the age of eight, he was diagnosed with Perthes disease - a condition that rots the hip bone - and had to give up footballing ambitions.But Mann found a passion for snooker thanks to dad Jeff, and the biggest win of his career secures a minimum £13,000 in prize-money, and a return to the venue where in 2007 he won Junior Pot Black.I used to play football when I was a kid and signed for Birmingham City - although Im a Villa fan, Mann said.I had some pains in my leg one day and we went to the hospital and had X-rays and they said it was growing pains. The pain never went away so we looked into it further and found out it was Perthes disease and Ive had to have numerous operations on my hip, and they told me I could never do high-impact sports again.When I was bored in the house one night, my dad took me to a local snooker club and Ive never looked back. I dont really follow the football much anymore - when you support Aston Villa, you dont want to be following that. Peter Ebdon has also qualified for this years tournament Mann will be the only debutant at this years World Championships and is relishing the opportunity of playing on snookers biggest stage.You cant argue, it is snookers Wembley. It doesnt get much bigger than the Crucible, so Im looking forward to it, he said.Im buzzing inside. I think I was always going to do some sort of sport and Im glad its snooker now with this kind of feeling.My dad has remortgaged his house about five times to keep me going. Also See: Photos Bet ￡5 Get ￡20 free Get Sky Sports Cole Hamels Jersey . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. Ferguson Jenkins Jersey .1 million pounds ($61.2 million) on Saturday, giving the beleaguered English Premier League champions a major lift. http://www.officialrangersgearshop.com/Rangers-Darwin-Barney-Kids-Jersey/ . - Oakland Raiders running back Rashad Jennings was speaking to a group of local high school students earlier this week when the conversation turned to the importance of being prepared when opportunities in life arise. Jurickson Profar Jersey .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. Texas Rangers Jerseys . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. LOS ANGELES -- The Montreal Canadiens will continue their annual trek through California when they face the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Sunday afternoon. Though the temperatures are warmer than back home in their native Quebec, the reception from their hosts has been ice cold.Montreal (16-6-2) sits atop the Atlantic Division thanks to its superior 12-1-1 record at home. Its 1-0 loss at San Jose on Friday dropped their road record below .500 (4-5-1).The road through California has been especially rough with Montreal posting a 1-8-2 record in the last 11 games against the California teams (San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles). The Canadiens have struggled to find their offense in the first three games of this road trip, posting only five goals in three games and wasting two strong performances by goaltender Carey Price.You just have to keep grinding, said Price after suffering his third regulation loss in 17 games. You just have to keep working and hopefully our fortunes will turn for the rest of the trip.The challenge for Montreal is the contrast of styles posed by Los Angeles. The Canadiens speed game was successful in a 4-1 win over the Kings on Nov. 10, but they have been worn down by both the Ducks and Sharks in consecutive losses. In order to break their losing streak and sweep the season series against the Kings, the Canadiens know they must control the tempo.Weve gotten away from our game, defenseman Jeff Petry told the Montreal Gazette prior to the San Jose loss. We were using our speed then we got away from that. Its something that we need to learn from because if we use our speed, were a tough team to handle.The Kings (13-10-1) will look to avenge last months loss at Montreal with continuing strong play on home ice. They enter the game with a 9-3-0 home recordd and appear to have found their stride after an inconsistent opening month.dddddddddddd A 4-3 win in Arizona on Thursday was the sixth in seven games for the Kings, who trail the division-leading San Jose Sharks by four points with a game in hand.After being besieged with injuries to start the season, Los Angeles depth is bolstered by the return of two key players and better health by one of its stars. Left winger Marian Gaborik missed the seasons first 20 games with a broken foot. Goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, plagued by groin injuries that limited him to just five appearances, earned his first win as a King in the Arizona victory.Anze Kopitar put up his first multi-point game since missing five games with a wrist injury, registering two assists in the Arizona win.Zatkoff was thought to be the starter after Jonathan Quick was sidelined with a serious groin injury but Peter Budaj was anointed by coach Darryl Sutter with Zatkoffs health issues. Budaj had appeared in 22 consecutive games before being relieved by Zatkoff after the first period in Arizona.Not playing eats away at you in the sense that you want to play, you want to contribute to the team and you want to be a piece of the puzzle, Zatkoff said. I feel really comfortable with my game and I just want to keep building on it.If Los Angeles creates enough offense to split the season series, it will likely do it without help from its special teams. Despite having a star-studded lineup and one of the best home records in the league, the Kings power-play production at home has been virtually non-existent, converting on 3 of 26 chances to tie them with the New York Islanders for 28th place in the NHL. ' ' '