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The Los Angeles Kings employed Jonathan Quick between the pipes last night. The 22 year old was tagged with the 2-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, giving up one goal, but his stats reflect a growing feeling in La La Land that they may have uncovered, with the third round pick in the 2005 draft, the goalie of their bright, shiny future. Quick has a .937 save percentage and 1.73 GAA in six starts for the Kings this year. Remember the name…current Vegas odds have the San Jose Sharks at a shade over 2-1 to win the Stanley Cup while the Detroit Red Wings sit at 4-1. Boston is next at 6-1. For various reasons, all look like bad bets to me but I did perk up when I saw the Habs at a juicy 16-1…and would you take a flyer on the Dallas Stars at 125 to 1? Yeah, you rabid scoundrel, of course you would…startled NHL fans woke up to “Lemieux Close to NHL Comeback” headlines in papers. It Claude, not Mario, a distinctly less enticing prospect…and, hey, Claude Lemieux, just go away…memo to the Kansas City Chiefs re Herm Edwards; what are you waiting for?…the New York Jets firing of Eric Mangini was just pathetic. The young protégé of the New England coaching school had winning seasons in two of his three years. He takes the blame as his Jets dissolved in the slimy detritus of a bitter, old, interception throwing cowboy…the Oakland Raiders need to move quickly and aggressively to replace Tom Cable with Kevin Gilbride. The abundant talents of JaMarcus Russell were on display as he led the Raiders to a week 17 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the mercurial youngster needs the grounding and leadership that the current New York Giant offensive coordinator can provide. The Raiders have a significant talent find on their hands and they need to execute a formidable plan to ensure it is nurtured and encouraged properly…please don’t raise the prospect of Marty Schottenheimer returning to the NFL as a head coach……Peter Heller’s “In This Corner”, first published in 1975, remains my favourite book on boxing. It is an invaluable resource outlining, in their own words, the recollections of forty two former world champions. Their thoughts are brutally honest and often at odds with the official records. With all the attention paid to Manny Pacquiao’s rise in weight, I thought I would go back and refresh my memory concerning the most famous division climber, Henry Armstrong. Hammerin’ Hank reveals the decision to go after three titles in three weight divisions was an attempt to gain some media attention in the face of the overwhelming popularity accorded to Joe Louis, the heavyweight champ. Armstrong reveals the beating he gave to Barney Ross, the legendary welter champ, was severe but older champ refused to quit. The best bit is at the end, when Armstrong decries the younger fighters. He speaks of fighting, in the early forties, one such punk who just ran and ran, had no punch, and yet was given an outrageous decision. The fighter? Sugar Ray Robinson… by the way, I have read Robinson’s account of the fight. Ray spoke of his love for Armstrong, describing him as his hero, but also spoke of the lack of respect he was given as his career wound down. Ray took it easy on Armstrong and noted in his reflections that the Human Windmill, despite at one point simultaneously holding the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight crowns, had been a victim of managers and promoters all his career and ended up broke. Robinson vowed he would never end up that way and became notorious, throughout his magnificent tenure as welterweight and middleweight champ, for his thriftiness and determination to get the maximum buck from all promotions…Irish poet Bono attended Leopardstown on Boxing Day for the fifth year running. The Dublin racecourse on St Stephens is the one place on earth that can guarantee an annual appearance from the enigmatic humanitarian…in an interview at the course, Bono announced U2’s new album will be called No Line on the Horizon. It is scheduled for a March 2009 release and will be accompanied by a worldwide tour…The Cure’s 13^th album, 4.13 Dream, was an excellent 2008 release, as was Madonna’s tenth, the confectionary sweet Hard Candy. The music makers of my youth roll on…the No 1 and 2 slots on the English charts at Christmas, huge deal overseas and subject to much speculation at the bookies, were both taken by versions of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. The best version of the song is Jeff Buckleys, though K D Lang comes a bang up second. The worst, the world agrees, is a rare misstep from the aforementioned Bono…saw Milk the other night. Like Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, Sean Penn represents the compelling reason to see the film. Hands down the two best performances of the year, I would hate to choose between the two, so I won’t…