BY ARASH MADANI
sportsnet.ca

If you expected Arland Bruce to play for the B.C. Lions on Friday night, he won't.

As part of the trade terms which sent the enigmatic receiver from Hamilton to Vancouver Wednesday, the Lions got the Tiger-Cats to pay Bruce his game cheque this week, even though he is officially a member of the Lions.

Sources told sportsnet.ca that Wally Buono was reluctant to pay an extra 1/18th of Bruce's annual $100,000 base salary -- approximately $5,500 for this week -- because of the salary cap implications for a player suffering from a mild right hamstring strain. The Ticats had been calling it a lower body issue this week.

Regardless of which team he was a member of, the hamstring -- which should be fine given another seven days' rest -- was going to keep Bruce out of the lineup this week.

It is a shrewd business maneuver by the Lions brass, and one that was needed during a shocking 0-5 start, in particular because of Bruce's injury status -- which actually had him miss practice Tuesday since he was at a medical appointment. From the Tiger-Cats standpoint, paying one extra game cheque equates to a bargain to ensure the deal got completed and ended the ongoing saga involving Bruce through the first third of the 2011 season.

With bonuses and incentives, Bruce could top at $175,000 this season, but that is now highly unlikely. He will finish the season making in the neighbourhood of $150,000 after re-structuring his deal over the winter.

This is good news for the 1-4 Saskatchewan Roughriders, a beleaguered franchise that can use any kind of boost. Saskatchewan travels to B.C. this week and will meet old friend Tad Kornegay, who starts in the Lions secondary, less than three weeks after the Riders released the defensive back after an embarrassing 33-3 road loss to Hamilton.

In 34 games with the Tiger-Cats, Bruce had 169 catches for 2,450 yards and 17 touchdowns, but has been a non-factor in 2011, grabbing only nine balls for 104 yards and hasn't seen the end zone yet.