OTTAWA -- Canadian athletes keep racking up medals at the Sochi Olympics, and now more money is coming their way to keep them on the podium. Authentic Morris Claiborne Cowboys Jersey . Finance Minister Jim Flahertys latest budget -- released Tuesday while many Canadians were likely more interested on the Winter Games -- includes a $23-million annual boost in sports funding, starting next year. Of that, $11 million will be set aside for winter sports through Own the Podium, a not-for-profit group created to boost Canadas Olympic performances. The goal of Own the Podium is to prioritize funding on the Olympic and Paralympic sports in which Canada has the best shot at winning medals. It was born from the countrys crushing disappointment at failing to win gold medals on home turf at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and then again at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Canada went on to win a record 14 gold medals at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and a total of 18 medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The Canadian Olympic Committees goal for the Sochi Games is to improve on Vancouvers medal haul and finish at the top of the table for overall medals. So far, Canada has four more medals than at this point at the 2010 Games. On Tuesday, Canada trailed only Norway in the standings. Freestyle skier Dara Howell won Canadas fourth gold of the Sochi Games in the womens slopestyle event, while her teammate Kim Lamarre won the bronze. That brought Canadas medal count to nine -- four gold, three silver and two bronze. Only Norway, with 11 medals, has won more medals in Sochi. The rest of the $23 million in Flahertys budget will be divvied up between team sports, the Canadian Paralympic Committee and Special Olympics Canada. In addition to that money, Special Olympics Canada is getting another $10.8-million spread over four years. "All Canadians are cheering on our Canadian athletes and coaches and celebrating their outstanding accomplishments at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia," the budget says. Also included in the budget is a measure aimed at retirement savings for amateur athletes. The measure would allow any income amateur athletes contributes to a trust to count as earned income for the purpose of determining their annual RRSP limit. Right now, any income contributed to an amateur athlete trust doesnt count as earned income, which limits the amount they can contribute to an RRSP. Authentic Robert Newhouse Cowboys Jersey . Anything less than gold for either nation is considered a disappointment. Yet for Switzerland, advancing to the semifinal might be a victory in itself. Authentic Anthony Hitchens Cowboys Jersey . - Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Percy Harvin has cleared league-mandated concussion protocol and has returned to practice as a full participant.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, I enjoy reading your column - hope you keep it up! In the final seconds of the third period of the Winnipeg/Montreal game, Brendan Gallagher looked like he was attempting to get back on-side. However, as he was starting to skate back, Al Montoya, Zach Bogosian and Jacob Trouba blatantly interfered with his progress. If the referee wasnt around, I would have thought that he just missed it. However, this all enfolded in front of a referee. It seemed the ref either purposely wanted the game to be over, sadistically wanted Gallagher to get roughed up, or favoured the Jets to win! Please explain why it wasnt a penalty and what (if any) you would have done differently. Regards, Lee Hi Lee: I can assure you that none of the three assertions you made were even remotely part of the referees mindset or affected his ultimate decision not to assess a penalty against the Jets. Instead, Brendan Gallagher engaged in a losing battle of will with the referee when he attempted to draw a penalty by embellishing the contact with Zach Bogosian (twice) and Al Montoya. Once a referee suspects a player is guilty of embellishing he does not want to be fooled into calling a weak penalty as a result of any theatrical performance. The battle lines were pretty much drawn at that point when Jacob Trouba came off the Winnipeg bench on a change with Tobias Enstrom. Troubas most direct route to assume his right defense position from the Jets bench placed him on a collision course with Gallagher, who had just picked himself up off the ice after turning on Bogosians stick, reaching his hand to the rafters and doing a reverse fall onto his back! No penalty call was forthcoming at that point. I would have judged the encounters with Bogosian and Montoya no differently than the referee, based on the embellishment that was first initiated by Gallagher behind the Jets net. The next obvious question you will ask is if the referee deemed there was embellishment, then why not assess offsetting penalties? With under a minute to play and the puck dumped down the icce most referees would prefer to let the minor skirmish quickly play itself out and not affect the manpower on the ice when there was no immediate and direct bearing on the play. Limited Ezekiel Elliott Jersey. That changed in my judgment however, once Jacob Trouba knocked Gallagher to the ice with a slightly buried shoulder and stick placed across the body of the Canadiens pin-ball forward. With the puck in the neutral zone Trouba needed to give way to Gallagher and pass behind the Montreal player to allow him unimpeded exit from the Jets end zone no differently than forward giving way to a D-man backing up at the blue line. That contact by Trouba was deserving of an interference penalty. The previous embellishments clearly witnessed by the referee would certainly cause some doubt as to the legitimacy of any foul committed against Brendan Gallagher so the refs arm remained down. I ask you to watch the play as objectively as possible and freeze-frame the action at key moments during the battles that took place. You should see Gallaghers hands initiate contact with Bogosian behind the net and the changing body posture of both players throughout the engagement. The final shove by Bogosian should not have caused the net to be pushed in an excessively tipped forward position by Gallagher. During and immediately following each player confrontation Brendan Gallagher made direct eye contact with the referee, including verbal appeals for a penalty call. It became a failed mission. Brendan Gallagher had a much more direct route available to him to exit the Jets end zone. He chose a path that ultimately led him into contact with Al Montoya and deep within the goal crease. Following the Montoya elbow push, Gallagher threw his head back excessively and immediately looked at the referee this time and on two more subsequent occasions hoping to see a raised arm. Gallaghers unnatural fall and look back at the ref after tripping over Bogosians stick completed the trifecta! Players that embellish on a consistent basis run the risk of not receiving the benefit of the doubt when they are legitimately fouled. Brendan Gallagher is too effective and too good a player to develop that unwanted reputation from the refs. Wholesale Jerseys China ' ' '
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