THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO -- The top pick of the 2011 CFL Canadian college draft will start the season on the sidelines.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers placed linebacker Henoc Muamba on the one-game injured list, meaning he won't play in the club's season-opener versus the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday night.

The former St. Francis Xavier star claimed the President's Trophy last year as Canadian university football's top defensive player.

The six-foot, 230-pound Muamba, a native of Mississauga, Ont., was the first player taken No. 1 by Winnipeg since offensive lineman Steve Scully in 1975.

Meanwhile, the Ticats settled on a kicker, deciding to keep Justin Medlock over Eric Wilbur.

That battle was an intriguing one for the Ticats, who created an opening competition for the job after releasing veteran Sandro DeAngelis in the off-season. The left-footed Medlock and Wilbur certainly gave Hamilton coach Marcel Bellefeuille plenty to ponder Wednesday night, combining to hit on 7-of-8 field goals in a 57-20 exhibition win over Montreal.

The two also punted and kicked off well. The only blemish was Wilbur's errant 21-yard field goal try in the game but Bellefeuille said Wilbur's overall play made the final decision a difficult one.

"People probably didn't give him enough credit for his ability to kick field goals and kick off," Bellefeuille said. "Over the last two games you can see he has come a long way and made it very interesting."

The Ticats also released defensive tackle Demonte' Bolden, offensive lineman Jack Julsing and receiver Jordan Watson, all imports, and placed Canadian rookie kicker Justin Maveety on the practice roster.

Hamilton also put six players on the injured list, including Canadian defensive back Dylan Barker, defensive back Bo Smith and receiver Marquay McDaniel. Canadian defensive lineman Matt Kirk went on the nine-game injured list.

Veteran long-snapper Jocelyn Frenette, a 35-year-old Montreal native entering his 10th CFL season with Saskatchewan, was among 25 players released by the defending West Division champions. Former Florida Gators star quarterback Chris Leak was also let go.

The Riders also put five players on the nine-game injured list, including kicker Luca Congi, defensive back Leron Mitchell and receiver Rob Bagg, all Canadians. With Congi unable to play, Saskatchewan kept two kickers on its roster, veteran Eddie Johnson and Laval rookie Christopher Milo.

However, Johnson is expected to handle the bulk of the kicking duties.

All eight teams had until 4pm ET to release players and finalize their 46-man rosters.

Here is a recap of the players released by each team in the past 48 hours leading up to cut down day:

MONTREAL ALOUETTES
Maxwell Lerner – DB (Furman)
Steven Holness – S (Ottawa)
Seth Williams – DB (Richmond)
Chris Pino – OL (San Diego State)
B.J. Frazier –WR (Appalachian State)
Brandon Walker-Roby – WR (Indiana)
Jermaine McGhee –DT (Prairie View A&M)
Renaldo Sagesse – DL (Michigan)
Anthony Barrette – OL (Concordia)
Justin Conn LB – (Bishop's)
Kyle Jones LB – (Bishop's)


TORONTO ARGONAUTS
Danny Brannagan – QB (Queen's)
Shannon Boatman – OT (Florida State)
Ray Cheatham – LB (Kansas State)
Dovonte Edwards – DB (North Carolina State)
Jedd Gardner – WR (Guelph)
Mike Hancock – DT (Florida Atlantic)
Shane Herbert – DB (Wilfrid Laurier)
Jerome Hewitt – SB (Southeastern Oklahoma State)
Durell Mapp – LB (North Carolina)
Kwame Osei – WR (St. Francis Xavier)
James Robinson – WR (Butler Community College)
Curtis Walls – WR (North Carolina A&T)
Dwayne Wright – RB (Fresno State)


HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
Xavier Brown – DE (C.W. Post)
George Kourtesiotis – DT (Wilfried Laurier)
Glenn Milner – RB (Central Missouri)
Morrice Richardson – DE (Notre Dame)
Pierre Singfield – DB (Arizona State)
Darren Toney – DB (Arkansas State)
Demonte’ Bolden – DT (Tennessee)
Jack Julsing – OL (Arizona)
Jordan Watson – WR (Northern Arizona)
Eric Wilbur – K/P (Florida)


WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
Marlon Winn – OT (Texas Tech)
Matt Morencie – OL (Windsor)
David McKoy – WR (Guelph)
Josh Bishop – WR (Wilfrid Laurier)
Alex Watson – WR (Northern Arizona)
Damian Sherman – WR (Southern Illinois)
Rico McCoy – LB (Tennessee)
Shawn Mayne – DL (Connecticut)
Kenny Mainor – DE (Troy)
Bryant Turner – DE (Alabama at Birmingham)
Arrington Hicks – DB (Eastern Michigan)
Rene Paredes – K (Concordia)
Justin Goltz – QB (Occidental College)
Chris Garrett –  RB (Ohio)
Alex Henderson –  RB (Northern Arizona)
Brendan Dunn –  OL (Western Ontario)
Moton Hopkins – DL (Tulsa)
Remond Willis –  DL (Illinois)
John Surla –  LB (Western Ontario)
Chris Smith – DB (Queen's)


SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
Chris Leak – QB (Florida)
Kolten Solomon – QB (Regina)
Dominic Bolden – WR (Liberty)
Patrick Brown – WR(Rutgers)
Mark Jones – WR
Jamal Smith – WR (Millersville)
Mathieu Boulay – WR (Bishop's)
Zack Evans – DL (Regina)
Ryan Lucas – DL (Western Washington)
Calvin Fance – DL (Angelo State)
Rod Wright – DL (Texas)
Peter Thiel – LB (Saskatchewan)
Byron Bullock – LB (South Dakota)
Chris Graham – LB (Michigan)
Eddie Russ – DB (Harding)
Jeremiah Weatherspoon – DB (Florida International)
Ludovic Kashindi – DB (Sherbrooke)
Graig Newman – DB (Saskatoon Hilltop)
Daryl Townsend – DB (Windsor)
Dan Clark – OL (Regina Thunder Jrs)
Justin Glover – OL (McMaster)
Devin Tyler – OL (Temple)
Kyle Exume – RB (Bishop's)
Tomas Silva – K/P (McGill)
Jocelyn Frenette – LS (Ottawa)


EDMONTON ESKIMOS
Marcus Adams – DT (Eastern Kentucky)
Larry Beavers – KR (Wesley)
Taye Biddle – WR (Mississippi)
Nate Binder –  WR (Tusculum)
Junius Coston – OL (North Carolina A&T)
Quinton Culberson – LB (Mississippi State)
Zipp Duncan –  OL (Kentucky)
Scott Ferguson – OL (St. Clouds State)
Will Harris – LB (USC)
Ladarius Key – DB (McNeese St.)
Brian Logan – DB (Brigham Young)
Matt Moss – DL (Texas A&M)
Wapamo Osaisai DB (Stanford)
Youssy Pierre – WR (Montreal)
Bryan Quayson – DB (Windsor)
Stefan Rodgers – OL (Lambuth)
Adam Rogers – G (Acadia)
JC Sherritt – LB (Eastern Washington)
Dale Stevenson – OL (Alberta)
Lenny Walls – DB (Boston College)


CALGARY STAMPEDERS
John Bender – OL (Nevada)
Saleem Borhot – DB (Saint Mary's)
Zac Carlson – OL (Weber State)
Oamo Culbreath –  OL (UBC)
Ian DeGannes-Shaw – DL (Calgary)
Marcus Jemison – DL (Grambling State)
Khari Long – DL (Baylor)
Reggie McNeal – WR (Texas A&M)
Marko Mitchell – WR (Nevada)
Deon Murphy – WR (Kansas State)
Jamontay Pilson – DL (Northwest Mississippi)
Osie Ukwuoma – DL (Queen's)
Matt Walter – RB (Calgary)


BC LIONS
Keyon Brown – DT (Purdue)
Tim Cronk – FB (Bishop's)
Alex Ellis – DT (Wilfrid Laurier)
Ronnie McCullough – LB (Bethune-Cookman)
Yannick Sage – OG (Sherbrooke)
Jared Perry – WR (Missouri)
Michael Smith – RB (Arkansas)
Justin Sorensen – OL (South Carolina)
Dane Randolph – OL (Maryland)
Sean Ortiz – DL (UBC)
Adam Baboulas – OL (St. Mary's)
Adam Bighill - LB (Central Washington)
Kierrie Johnson – WR (Houston)
Nick Hennessey – OL (Colgate)
Marquez Hall – DB (Tennessee State)
James Bryant – DT (Louisville)
Chris Hodgson – DT (Saint Mary's)
Michael Carter – DB (Maryland)