Broken Wings » With Schultz off the ice, the

CHICAGO -- Dennis Rodman is preparing to thrill North Korean fans during an exhibition basketball tour there late next month. Though he ducked questions in an interview with The Associated Press about whether his Christmas-time visit would be used for propaganda purposes by Kim Jong Un, the 29-year-old leader of one of the worlds most repressive regimes, Rodman said hell be accompanied on the trip by a dozen or so former NBA players. But he refused to name names. "I have seven people right now," Rodman said. "I talked to a couple of guys last week. Lot of guys are saying, OK, great. Ill go. Well go. But Im not saying this to get people to go over there to prove a point -- OK, great, lets go over there and make a difference. "No-o-o-o-o-o," he continued. "Lets go over there because this is a great opportunity for everyone to see a different culture. ... This country is so bad. This city is so bad. OK, great, come see it and tell the world when you come back, Hey, its not as bad as you think. And thats why Im taking NBA players over there, to show them, so they can come back and talk about it." Back in the news as a self-appointed ambassador and friend of Kim, Rodman returned Thursday to where he won the last three of his five NBA championships playing alongside Michael Jordan. On a promotional tour to pitch a vodka brand, Rodman, 52, held court downtown amid camera flashes. Rodman said he wouldnt talk about his relationship with Kim or North Korean politics, including its widely condemned human-rights record and secretive nuclear weapons program. Though he eventually touched on those subjects, Rodman glossed over several related questions and largely ignored a challenge to his answer about whether North Korea was holding U.S. citizens as hostages, including 85-year-old Korean War veteran Merrill Newman. The Swedish Embassy is negotiating on behalf of Newman because the U.S. has no diplomatic ties to North Korea. Rodmans friendship with Kim has afforded him the kind of access denied statesmen from the West and even U.S. President Barack Obama. Rodman came under criticism for being "naive" during a previous visit to North Korea, where he was photographed often with Kim, and some members of the diplomatic community fear his antics could further aggravate already-sensitive negotiations. Rodman said his reasons for returning were much more personal and beyond that, Kims motives were not his concern. "Like I told you, this is not all about trying to create this major buzz," Rodman said. "Because I dont want my friend to sit there and say I been doing this all along to slip in some information on him. I dont want that. Thats why Im not doing that. Were friends and thats it. "This aint about me trying to be a politician and try to get some scoop on him and stuff like that. ... Hes my friend first. Other than that, I dont give a damn what ... he does." Rodman began his NBA career with the Detroit Pistons in 1986. It ended in 2000, after failed attempts to catch on with both the Lakers and Mavericks. Whether or not he misses the game, its clear he enjoys being back in the limelight, detractors and all. "People say, what do you do for a living? I dont know. I just float around the world. Basically, I dont do anything. I do a lot of major things around the world. I do things that is very significant right now, and people are actually paying attention to Dennis Rodman now. "Back when I was doing my finagling in sports, they thought I was a joke. They thought I was a cartoon character or something like that. All of a sudden now, people are taking me seriously. You know, an ambassador all around the world," he added. "Its like ... I think things have come full circle." Fake Baseball Jerseys . You can watch the game on TSN at 7pm et/4pm pt and listen to the game on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal. After starting the month of November on an 0-3-1 slide, the Canadiens have recorded wins in three of their last five outings (3-1-1). Fake Nike Baseball Jerseys China . His chance at winning a Stanley Cup in Philadelphia is over. Same with Jeff Carter. And Brian Boucher. Throw in Ville Leino and Dan Carcillo. https://www.fakebaseballjerseys.com/ . The Brazilian-born strikers brace drew him level with Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo as the leagues leading scorers with 17 goals apiece through 16 rounds. "The important thing is to help the team win, not the goals," Diego Costa said. After a first half dominated by defence, Atletico pressed Valencia into its area and Diego Costa did the rest. Custom Baseball Jerseys . The Canadiens captain, who underwent surgery on his injured biceps in the off-season, had been skating with the team in a non-contact capacity since last week. Cheap Baseball Jerseys China . Starters, when they struggle, have to live with it for five days. For Sergio Santos and Steve Delabar, two of the three men who authored one of the ugliest pitched innings in Blue Jays franchise history on Thursday night, the bounce-back chance came right away.The Chicago Blackhawks opened the Western Conference Final with a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in Game One. Notes on the Jonathan Toews-Anze Kopitar matchup, Duncan Keith, Jeff Schultz, Corey Crawford and more. Blackhawks LW Brandon Saad had a goal and an assist to lead Chicagos attack, but the Blackhawks did not hold the territorial edge in play against the Kings. Only three Blackhawks -- Bryan Bickell, Jonathan Toews and Johnny Oduya -- were on the ice for better than 50% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. Real credit for the Blackhawks defensive effort must go to the line of Toews, Bickell and Marian Hossa, along with the defence pairing of Oduya and Niklas Hjalmarsson; they took on the toughest matchup, against the Kings top line and, in addition to Toews tallying the Blackhawks third goal, the unit held the playoffs leading scorer, Kings C Anze Kopitar, without a shot attempt and RW Justin Williams had all four of his attempts blocked. Blackhawks D Duncan Keith, who scored the game-winning goal, was on for 30.8% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts, getting the wrong end of a frequent matchup against the line of Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson. Toffoli was the Kings lone goal-scorer. In a surprise twwist, Kings D Jeff Schultz, who had turnovers that contributed to the Blackhawks first two goals, also had spectacular puck possession numbers.dddddddddddd With Schultz on the ice, the Kings had 22 shot attempts for and five against, 81.5%. With Schultz off the ice, the Kings earned 45.6% of the games 5-on-5 shot attempts. While the Blackhawks didnt hold the possession edge overall, they did get another strong goaltending performance from Corey Crawford, who stopped 25 of 26 shots -- the third straight game in which Crawford has allowed a single goal. Even though he won the Stanley Cup last season, he doesnt necessarily have the postseason rep of Kings netminder Jonathan Quick, but Crawford has done all right for himself in 50 career playoff games. Since 2000, he ranks third (behind Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask) in save percentage, among goaltenders with at least 40 playoff appearances. Since the Blackhawks and Kings are both top-tier possession clubs, it could easily come down to which team gets the better goaltending and Crawford gives the Blackhawks a legitimate chance to win that matchup. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. 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