I just keep thinking that he just didn't like playing for Gallant.
I watched one of those MSG shorts before a game one night and it was the one with Lindgren. Michelle asked Lindy who the biggest jokester on the team was, and he said something to the effect that Laff "doesn't have a serious bone in his body". I can see Gallant like a drill sergeant, and not digging Laff's personality. I can also see Laff being like "Fuck off, limp dick!"
Not that I was even close to being a professional player, but being a supreme goof ball myself, I know there are some people I rub the wrong way with my devil-may-care attitude on life. I could seriously give a fuck, but they don't, and they make it a point to try and piss in your corn flakes whenever possible.
I'm not saying all the work he did over the off-season didn't help immensely, but I'll bet he had a lot more motivation to be "The Laff we see now", as opposed to "I can't wait to get out of this fucking guy's lineup". I love the way Laviolette handles these guys. He's created a team unity that I can almost feel.
That shit they do at the end of a game isn't just by accident. These guys really seem to like one another, and play pretty fucking hard for one another to win. They want it all, and they deserve it!
Laff deserves a lot of credit for shutting his ears to the "Bust" label he was given and his critics, and then going out and doing what he did this year. I'll always be behind that kid, and I hope he breaks every record the Rangers have. @RichieNextel305's right too; with a little luck, he could easily have 35 goals. He was robbed more times than a stagecoach in the old west.
Keep it rollin' Laff!