The relatively-trivial task of choosing the next wave of potential employees took a back seat for the B.C. Lions last weekend and it remains to be seen if the tragic events associated with one from within their inner circle will linger.

The shocking Apr. 28 death of Tracy Lasorsa-Simon, wife of Canadian scouting director Geroy Simon, has forced the Lions to sharpen their focus for Sunday’s Canadian college draft in the only way coach/GM Wally Buono knows, which is to keep working.

That hasn’t necessarily been easy for everyone associated with the Lions this week, and it has resulted in some changes to their approach towards their nine selections in the annual lottery (4pm pt, TSN, TSN.ca).

But Buono doesn’t expect his rivals to feel sorry Sunday for an organization whose owner, David Braley, had been ailing for months and whose president, Dennis Skulsky, took a reduced role over the winter. Simon has told Buono that he plans to be at work Sunday as well.

“This is what I’m trying to tell everybody...it’s life. You move on,” said Buono, who had instructions from Braley to give Simon as much time as necessary to deal with the grieving process.

Simon has travelled extensively through the scouting process the last couple of seasons but has hardly done it all himself, working with Buono and personnel director Neil McEvoy. They have had some success too, at least relative to the recent past, with seven of the 16 players taken by the Lions with Simon assisting the last two years having played at least one CFL game.

Losing their chief Canadian talent evaluator at this point, however, has resulted in the Lions creating a different approach. B.C. held three mock drafts internally this week, with Buono making the Lions’ choices, as he will do Sunday, and his scouting personnel picking for the league.

“I might pick a guy that’s questionable and then I’d ask them to analyze ...did you like what I picked, or did you not, and why not,” Buono said. “Geroy did a very thorough job (assessing talent). We’re doing it a bit different this year with the mock drafts.”

This year’s lottery carries the usual pitfalls associated with an event where 14 eligible players have either been taken in the NFL Draft, signed a priority free agent deal or will attend a four-down mini-camp this month. That list includes two B.C. draft-eligible products, SFU’s Jordan Herdman and UBC’s Alex Morrison.

With two picks in the first round, however, the Lions are just as likely to choose along traditional lines than act upon at least one trade offer currently on the table.

“For a team who has already said they want to start four Canadians on the offensive line you can never have too much depth,” suggested TSN draft analyst Duane Forde. “Historically when you have a team with two first round picks it’s almost a surprise if one of them doesn’t end up being an o-lineman.”

That could lead the Lions to perhaps select either American-born Dariusz Bladek, who attended a mini-camp last season with the Baltimore Ravens while his non-import eligibility was sorted, or Port Coquitlam’s Mason Woods, a product of the Langley junior program who attended college at Idaho.

“When we had him into the interview room he came out spectacular,” said McEvoy of Woods. “He seems to enjoy football...the fact that he played at a big time school makes him a first round pick.”

Having lost five Canadians since last season, B.C. also could use help as a result of the recent retirement of receiver Shawn Gore. The top-ranked receiver, according to the CFL’s scouting bureau, is McMaster’s Danny Vandervoort, 23, of Barrie, Ont., who has drawn comparisons to Jason Clermont.

Suffice it to say the ex-receiver who will draw the most attention from the Lions Sunday, however, is the Hall of Famer who plans to be with them on the job despite tragic circumstances.