In his first interview of training camp earlier this month Laine sat patiently, fielding question after question about the offseason trade rumors he was involved in, and the comments made by his agents.

He didn’t want to talk about that, instead making it known he is solely focused on playing hockey, bettering his game, and helping the Jets win night in and night out.

Maybe you believed him, maybe you didn’t. But his effort in Thursday’s season-opening come-from-behind victory over the Calgary Flames should lead you to believe what Laine said, and how he acted was indeed his true feelings.

It was a three-point night for Laine, including the game winner in overtime but Laine seemed like a different player on Thursday, one that is clearly motivated by something, or you can say playing with a chip on his shoulder.

“Hopefully I can just build off that game. There’s a lot of things we need to work on and the three points are not going to tell the true story of the game,” said Laine. “Obviously, it’s a good start. You’ve got to produce, so that was good.”

While Laine’s pair of goals and a beauty of an assist on Kyle Connor’s tying goal was certainly encouraging to see, it was his sticking up for his teammate that said a lot about where Laine may be at mentally.

After Connor took a heavy cross-check to the back from Noah Hanifan, Laine was first in sight, coming to the aid of his teammate. With a scrum ensuing from the activities, it was Laine and Tkachuk paired together. While I wouldn’t quite call it a fight as the referees quickly stepped in, Laine’s willingness to dance with Tkachuk is something that did not go unnoticed.

“Yeah, I mean that's just the type of guy he is. He'll go to battle for his teammates and he's a pretty selfless guy,” Connor said. “I think you can see that obviously, tonight and I’ve got his back out there and vice versa. He's just an all-around great teammate, I would say.”

What lies ahead for Laine in Winnipeg remains to be seen. And in fact, until he is either traded, signs elsewhere as a free agent, or ends his career in Winnipeg, we may never know truly how Laine feels about his situation in Winnipeg and if he really wants to be there or not.

But if Laine is going to play with the passion he showed Thursday all season long, Laine is going to make a lot of noise this season.

“What he got tonight, he earned. He didn’t get lucky, he didn’t have a bunch of good bounces go for him or anything like that, he just worked and worked,” said head coach Paul Maurice.

“For him to get down the ice in overtime the way that he did, that’s a fit guy. That’s a guy who has been pushing himself for two weeks after a good summer of training.”

Laine’s first goal was one you had to watch again; it was too pretty not to. Racing in all alone on a breakaway, the puck was sailing over the shoulder of Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom before he even realized Laine released it.

His overtime winning goal may not have had the flash that his first goal did, but his determination and will to be better was a sight to see. After a stick lift by Sean Monahan disrupted his initial shot attempt, Laine stuck with the play and once again beat Markstrom with a quick wrister.

“I mean, nothing surprises you with him. I'm probably his biggest, what's the opposite of a critic, a praiser or whatever,” said Paul Stastny who centered Laine on the Jets second line.

“I've always loved his game. Always loved when he gets engaged. He's just such a physical specimen. You don't see it because he's just so smooth out there but he's just so strong on the puck.”

It’s game one of 56, there’s a lot of hockey left to be played. But after the roller coaster of emotions that surrounded Laine’s name in the off-season, his season could have not gotten off to a better start.

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