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Sabres’ McBain wants to prove Hurricanes wrong

Toronto Maple Leafs v Buffalo Sabres

TORONTO, CANADA - SEPT 22: Jamie McBain #4 of the Buffalo Sabres skates in a pre-season game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sept 22, 2013 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Leafs defeated the Sabres 5-3. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

Claus Andersen

Jamie McBain knew a trade was coming. Although the circumstances in which he found out about the trade perhaps added some shock value.

As Chip Alexander of the News and Observer in Raleigh reports, McBain was at home watching the NHL Draft at the end of June when commissioner Gary Bettman called out his name as part of a trade with the Buffalo Sabres.

McBain, 25, struggled when the NHL regular season hastily began following the lockout. And at the draft, the Carolina Hurricanes shipped him to Buffalo in exchange for another blue liner in Andrej Sekera.

“I think Jamie will turn his game around next year,” Hurricanes’ general manager Jim Rutherford said after the trade.

“Unfortunately, he didn’t come to camp last year ready to play. He wasn’t in good shape, and because of that he didn’t have a good year. He got himself into the coach’s doghouse, and I really didn’t see that he was going to get himself out of it.”

McBain, again, wasn’t surprised that a deal involving him had been made. But that doesn’t hinder the fact he’s looking to have a rebound season for the Sabres.

“I had almost prepared myself for it to happen, so there was not a whole lot of shock involved. They moved in a different direction, it was the route they wanted to go and I was not a piece of that puzzle, so here I am,” McBain told the News & Observer in Raleigh.

“It’s one of those things it is what it is...I just took that as intrinsic motivation to continue to get better and kind of prove these guys wrong.”

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Read more here: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/canes/mcbain-has-new-team-added-motivation#storylink=cpy