Courtesy Hamilton Spectator:

Hamiltonians had 141 reasons to celebrate Canada Day this week; the Tiger-Cats are having trouble finding seven.

A possible Cat shortage of the minimum seven starting Canucks on the 42-man roster is just one of a number of intriguing storylines as the 0-1 Tabbies head east to meet the 1-0 Toronto Argonauts tonight.

Game time at the Rogers Centre is 7 p.m. The game will be televised by TSN.

While Hamilton was abysmal last week, Toronto opened with a 23-16 victory over Winnipeg.

Hamilton head coach Charlie Taaffe told a media conference at the University of Toronto (Mississauga campus) yesterday the club has a juggling act on its hands when it comes to its Canadian content.

Two issues are at play. The Ticats have lost starting left guard Cedric Gagne-Marcoux to a possible season-ending right shoulder injury. The club hopes to replace him with import tackle Marko Cavka at the guard spot.

But complicating matters is the fact Canadian starting rush end Nautyn McKay-Loescher might be scratched because of a back problem.

That would leave Hamilton with Jesse Lumsden, Pat Woodcock, George Hudson, Marwan Hage, Ray Mariuz and Jeff Piercy as the starting homebrews.

That’s not enough.

If McKay-Loescher can’t play, one of Jermaine Reid or Clinton Wayne will have to start.

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