Charlie Taaffe can’t wait for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to open training camp, and with good reason.

When Hamilton begins two-a-day workouts this weekend, they will do so with star quarterback Casey Printers, giving the former CFL MVP the benefit of going through a full camp.

Printers joined the Ticats as a free agent in the latter half of the ‘07 season after being released by the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs. His arrival was certainly a coup for Hamilton - he was the CFL’s outstanding player in ‘04 after throwing for 5,088 yards and 35 TDs - but the deck was clearly stacked against him.

Not only did Printers have to learn the offence on the fly - with Taaffe watering down the playbook in the process to help ease the transition - but he had to get used to playing full time after seeing little action during his two years with the Chiefs.

And at times, the rust showed. Printers finished 68-of-133 passing (51.1 per cent) for 774 yards with a touchdown and four interceptions as Hamilton posted a league-worst 3-15 record.

Not only is Printers now in much better condition physically, he will have all of training camp to get into sync with both the offence and his teammates.

“Having the benefit of going through a whole training camp he’ll not only learn what he needs to know X-and-O-wise to be able to function at his position but he’ll gain the camaraderie and all the intangible things you need to build during training camp which he missed out on last year,” Taaffe said. “You need that at the quarterback position more than any other.

“It’s critical to being accepted and being the leader. You really develop a lot of those things in training camp. We’re real optimistic about Casey, he certainly has the talent I think to be a special quarterback in this league.”

CFL teams opened their rookie camps this week. Veterans are scheduled to report this weekend, with the twice-daily workouts slated to begin shortly afterwards.

The exhibition schedule begins June 12 with Toronto at Montreal and Winnipeg at Hamilton.

The final roster cutdown is scheduled for June 20. The 2008 regular season begins June 26 with Montreal at Hamilton and B.C. at Calgary.

Here’s a look at the other seven CFL teams as they head into training camp.

B.C. Lions

Not much roster change expected from a team that posted a CFL-best 14-3-1 record last year. However, the club’s loss to Saskatchewan in the West Division final still stings. An interesting battle will be at quarterback, where Buck Pierce and Jarious Jackson will duke it out for the No. 1 job with the off-season release of veteran Dave Dickenson. Second-year defensive end Cameron Wake - the CFL’s top rookie and defensive player last year - made some noise recently about wanting out of his contract but is expected to report to camp.

Calgary Stampeders

This marks the first full season for new coach/GM John Hufnagel, who was hired in the off-season to replace Tom Higgins. Hufnagel takes over a team that was a disappointing 7-10-1 and third in the West Division standings last year before losing to Saskatchewan in the first round of the playoffs. Calgary was active in the off-season, adding Dickenson, linebacker Jojuan Armour, safety Richard Karikari and receiver Nate Curry while releasing linebackers Scott Coe and Brian Clark.

Edmonton Eskimos

After leading Edmonton to a Grey Cup title in his first season, head coach Danny Maciocia has missed the CFL playoffs the last two, something that’s unheard of in Edmonton. Not surprising, the Eskimos were among the league’s more active teams in the off-season, adding quarterback Jason Maas, receivers Brock Ralph and Keith Stokes, defensive end Fred Perry, offensive linemen Garrick Jones and John Comiskey and cornerback Jordan Younger. But such stalwarts as linebacker A.J. Gass, kicker Sean Fleming, offensive lineman Kevin Lefsrud and running back Mike Bradley all retired.

Montreal Alouettes

The big question is whether new coach Marc Trestman - who has no previous CFL experience - can lead the Alouettes to the Grey Cup as the host team. Montreal posted an 8-10-0 record under coach-GM Jim Popp to finish third in the East before losing to Winnipeg in the conference semifinal. Quarterback Anthony Calvillo returns after missing the latter portion of the season to be with his ill wife. The Alouettes added linebacker Reggie Hunt, defensive tackle Jeff Keeping and receivers Tony Tompkins and Jamal Richardson in free agency. But safety Etienne Boulay signed with the NFL’s New York Jets this off-season.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

It was a wild off-season for the Grey Cup champions. Not only did they lose head coach Kent Austin to Ole Miss - his alma mater - but the club dealt quarterback Kerry Joseph to Toronto. Ken Miller has the daunting task of trying to replace Austin while veteran Marcus Crandell is expected to assume the starting quarterback duties now. The Riders did acquire defensive lineman Ron Flemons and offensive linemen Steve Morley and Glenn January from Toronto. And cornerback Omarr Morgan returns after spending last year with Edmonton. But offensive lineman Val St, Germain has retired while Perry’s and Hunt’s absences will be felt defensively.

Toronto Argonauts

It’s the end of an era with the retirement of quarterback Damon Allen after an illustrious 23-year run. But new Argos head coach Rich Stubler - taking over for the immensely popular Mike (Pinball) Clemons - would seem to be in good shape with Joseph and veteran Michael Bishop under centre. Released in the off-season were running backs Robert Edwards and John Avery along with receiver Derrell (Mookie) Mitchell. The Argos are bringing in former NFL star David Boston to camp. Stubler will also still have a hand in co-ordinating a Toronto defence that was the CFL’s best last year, although the unit is another year older. Stalwart linebacker Mike O’Shea, the top Canadian-born tackler in league history, returns for another season.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

The defending East Division champions will be without all-star slotback Milt Stegall for all of camp. Stegall underwent knee surgery May 2 and is still recovering. Quarterback Kevin Glenn, who suffered a broken arm in the East Division final, is back and healthy, a good sign for the Bombers as he led the CFL in passing last year. Running back Charles Roberts remains one of the league’s best, as well. The good news for Roberts is GM Brendan Taman was able to re-sign offensive linemen Dan Goodspeed and Matt Sheridan, as well as rush end Tom Canada in the off-season. However, the loss of safety Kyries Hebert (NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals) hurts both in the secondary as well as special teams.