SOCHI, Russia -- Canada was a second-half team at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Ben Zobrist Jersey . The medal intake in Sochi is forecasted to happen at a more measured pace. Starting with Saturdays mens snowboard slopestyle and womens moguls, Canada has at least one legitimate medal shot, if not more, virtually every day until the closing ceremonies Feb. 23. Chef de mission Steve Podborski and his assistants Jean-Luc Brassard and France St. Louis intend to be present at events where a Canadian is a front-runner for a medal. "I would say were booked every day," Podborski said at a Canadian Olympic Committee news conference Thursday. The host country won 18 of its 26 medals in Vancouver during the back half of the Games. Ten of the 14 gold medals came in the second half, including four on the final weekend. Sports making their Olympic debut helped balance the schedule of Canadas medal prospects in Sochi. Mens and womens snowboard slopestyle, the figure skating team event and the luge relay are among the new events over the first eight days of competition in which Canada has solid medal prospects. Thats in addition to Canadas strength in the entrenched sports of alpine skiing, moguls, short-track speedskating and cross-country skiing. "Sure there are new sports and we happen to be very, very good in the new ones because we are a great sporting nation," Podborski said. "With the support were getting now from corporate Canada, Own The Podium and the Government of Canada, we have an opportunity to be good in the traditional sports as well and thats where well make our great gains in the areas where are athletes are getting better . . . cross-country, alpine skiing." Canadas athletes have been waging fierce foosball tournaments in their village lounge while they await Fridays opening ceremonies, according to Podborski. But Olympic competition started early for some Canadians with Thursdays preliminary rounds. Canada sat in second place, two points behind host Russia, after the first day of the new team figure skating event. Torontos Patrick Chan was third in the mens short program, then Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., were second in the pairs short to give Canada 17 of a possible 20 points after the first two events. Sebastien Toutant of LAssomption, Que., and Max Parrot of Bromont, Que., advanced to the mens snowboard slopestyle final Saturday, while Charles Reid of Mont-Tremblant, Que., and Reginas Mark McMorris will attempt to join them via the semifinal earlier in the day. The Dufour-Lapointe sisters from Montreal -- Justine, Chloe and Maxime -- all qualified for Saturdays womens moguls finals as did Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City. Reigning world champion Spencer OBrien of Courtney, B.C., qualified for the womens slopestyle final Sunday. Hockey Canada also made the decision to replace injured forward Steven Stamkos with Tampa Bay teammate Martin St. Louis. No competition is scheduled Friday because of the opening ceremonies. In addition to slopestyle and womens moguls on opening weekend, skiers Erik Guay of Mont-Tremblant, Que., Calgarys Jan Hudec and Manny Osborne-Paradis of Invermere, B.C., are medal prospects in Sundays downhill. Canadas figure skaters are favoured to win a medal in the team event, which ends Sunday. Canadas objective in 2010 was to top the overall medal count and the target remains the same in Sochi. The host team was third in total medals, but won the gold-medal race four years ago. Because of the new sports, there are 36 more medals to be won in 2014 than in 2010. That will help fill Canadas coffers, but also those of top rivals Germany, Norway, the United States and host Russia. "Canada is here to compete and win," COC president Marcel Aubut said. "Our aim is to contend for the number one spot in medals won." "This is an ambitious goal, but we Canadians like it this way. Our athletes expect nothing less of themselves but the highest achievements." Added Podborski: "You dont try to come "somewhere up there." We expect great things in Canada now. Its an ideal approach. "We may not win the medal count this time. We may not win it the next time but one day we will because we are striving to be number one in the world in the medal count." While Canadas preparation for 2010 seems a successful model to copy for Sochi, the Canadian Olympic Committee took a different approach. The 2008 Summer Games in Beijing posed similar challenges to Sochi in terms of distance to travel, time-zone difference and unfamiliar language, food and culture. Virtually all of Canadas Olympians competed, trained or at least visited Beijing in the year prior to those Games to get comfortable with the place. The same practice was done for Sochi. There was less emphasis on pre-Games visits for the 2012 Summer Games in London. "If we look at the Beijing experience and we look at the Sochi experience, its actually very similar," COC chief sport officer Caroline Assalian says. "New and unfamiliar environment for most countries. "We ensured that the athletes and support teams as much as possible are familiar with this environment." The COC has conducted exit interviews with athletes, their coaches and support teams following Olympic Games since 2006 to better plan for the next. The athletes were asked "what made the difference in your performance?" "Their number one factor? Feeling part of a larger unified team, more than anything," Assalian said. "Thats what made the difference for them. Coaches and support team? Familiarity with the Olympic environment." And where Beijing was also a benchmark for Sochi was in Canadas conversion rate, which the number of athletes ranked in the top five at their most recent world championships make it onto the podium at the subsequent Olympic Games. The COC employs conversion rates to compare how Canadas athletes are performing compared to other countries. Even though Canada won just 18 medals in Beijing, the conversion rate there was 67 per cent compared to 59 per cent at the Winter Games of both 2010 and 2006, according to Assalian. The Canadian team needs at least match Beijings conversion rate to be in the hunt for the overall title in Sochi. "Our bar now is Beijing," Assalian says. "We know we need to convert better than we ever have at any Winter Olympic Games." The Canadian team will attempt this without the advantage it had in Vancouver and Whistler of home ice and home snow. Own The Podium chief executive officer Anne Merklinger says many winter sport teams have stronger leadership and better coaches since 2010. Both areas were priorities coming out of Vancouver and Whistler and she hopes improvements there compensate for the additional challenges of Sochi. "Weve come a long way in that regard," she says. "Without coaches, were behind the 8-ball. Its the most important success factor. "I think there are a number of examples where weve brought in great coaches, but weve lost some too. We need to find a way to continue to retain the good ones we have and attract new ones." "Were investing in that. Thats what it takes. Its a competitive industry." OTP oversees athletes competitive lives between Olympic Games and allocates about $62 million a year in federal government funding between summer and winter sports. The COC prepares athletes for the Games environment and looks after their needs and wants on the ground in Sochi. Sergio Romo Jersey . "Weve given ourselves now a tougher task," said Carlyle after the Friday practice, the Toronto head coach notably chipper and upbeat throughout. "But the bottom line is we just have to win our share of games [and] not worry about what anybody else is doing. Wade Boggs Jersey . Price also posted the longest shutout sequence since 1960 at 164:19 minutes. He stopped a combined 55 shots in Canadas final two games and 70 of 71 shots in Canadas three elimination games, allowing only a breakaway goal to Lauris Darzins of Latvia. For his efforts, Price was named best goalkeeper by the tournament directorate. Prices outstanding play is marred only by the extremely strong defensive play of Canadas top six defencemen; Shea Weber, Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester. http://www.mlbraysstore.com/authentic-steven-souza-rays-jersey/ . Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Raptors have traded forward Steve Novak along with a second-round pick to the Utah Jazz in exchange for guard Diante Garrett - who will then be waived. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Baltimore Orioles couldnt fully enjoy their strange victory over Tampa Bay. Ryan Flaherty and Nick Markakis both drove in a run after a power outage in the eighth inning and the Orioles beat the Rays 5-3 on Tuesday night. Baltimore announced after the game that catcher Matt Wieters, who went 2 for 5 as the designated hitter, will fly to Pensacola Florida Wednesday to have his sore right elbow examined by Dr. James Andrews. He had an MRI on Monday. "Hes been getting it treated for a while," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "We just want to make sure we know what were dealing with. Hell be back for the game. We just want to follow up. Hopefully hes catching for us (Wednesday)." The 19-minute delay came after a series of lights went out at Tropicana Field. The outage was soon after Steve Clevengers one-out double off Joel Peralta (1-2) put runners on second and third. After Steve Pearce walked, an RBI single by Flaherty and Markakis run-scoring grounder gave Baltimore the two-run lead. "The lights go out, but we picked up where we left off and got a couple runs in that inning," Flaherty said. "It was kind of a bizarre moment." Peralta was charged with two runs and three hits in one-third of an inning. "I made bad pitches and they hit them," Peralta said. "It had nothing to do with the lights." The Rays announced that Duke Energy, which provides electricity to the ballpark, said the problem was caused by lightning striking a nearby transformer. Both managers took the outage in stride. "I was just hoping it wouldnt mess up the air conditioners," Showalter said. "I think there was a grand opening somewhere and it knocked the lights out," Tampa Bays Joe Maddon added. Evan Longoria hit a two-run homer for thee Rays, who loaded bases with one out in the ninth but failed to score against Tommy Hunter. Jake McGee Jersey. The Orioles closer got a fly ball from Desmond Jennings and struck out Logan Forsythe to pick up his ninth save. "Tommy bent, but didnt break," Showalter said. Baltimore loaded the bases with no outs in the both fourth and fifth against Chris Archer, but scored just once in both innings on sacrifice flies. J.J. Hardy hit a sacrifice fly that tied it during the fourth before the Orioles went up 3-2 on Adam Jones fifth-inning fly ball. Tampa Bay pulled even at 3 when Ben Zobrist hit a sacrifice fly off Darren ODay (1-0) in the seventh. Longoria put the Rays ahead 2-0 with his fourth homer of the season off Chris Tillman in the first. Pearce cut the deficit to 2-1 with a third-inning homer. Tillman allowed three runs and five hits over six-plus innings. Archer gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings. NOTES: Showalter said 1B Chris Davis (strained left oblique) is making good progress but that its a long shot that he will be activated from the 15-day DL when eligible Sunday. "Hes moving in a good manner," Showalter said. ... Orioles LHP Johan Santana (shoulder) will make his second extended spring training start Saturday after a two-inning outing Monday. "He feels good today," Showalter said. "That was good to see." ... Markakis extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a first-inning single. ... Showalter said Orioles prospect Kevin Gausman (pneumonia), the fourth overall pick in the 2012 amateur draft, will pitch Saturday for Triple-A Norfolk. ... Tampa Bay recalled RHP Brad Boxberger from Triple-A Durham. ... Orioles RHP Bud Norris (2-2) and Rays LHP Cesar Ramos (1-1) are Wednesday nights scheduled starters. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '