Proteau called out Flyers’ General manager Paul Holmgren and Owner Ed Snider for their recent turn-style approach of assembling a Stanley Cup-caliber team.

“Unfortunately, evidence suggesting constant roster turnover isn’t the ideal way to construct a Stanley Cup-winning product  continues to mount.”

Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

When the Flyers made their unlikely run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010, the cornerstones of the franchise, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter had each played five seasons with the Orange and Black. The acquisition of defenseman Chris Pronger clearly made a difference, but Richards and Carter were the faces of the franchise. As the 2012-2013 season draws to a close, let’s look at the top two teams left in the playoffs to see how stable their rosters have been.

Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask arguably make up the core of the Boston Bruins, give or take a player. Each man had his name etched into the Cup two years ago. Each player has made a contribution to this year’s run to the Final.

Bergeron, 27, is one of the premier defensive forwards in the game, he already has a Frank J. Selke Trophy and almost won another this year. Zdeno Chara, 36, has been the rock on the blue-line since 2006 and his game-saving block on Evgeni Malkin preserved the Eastern Conference title seeing the sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Chara also took the Norris Trophy home in 2009. Krejci, 27,  a playoff wizard, has played a pivotal role in this year’s Cup run. He was also a key member of the 2011 championship team. Lucic, 25, is a force on the ice with a scoring tough and Marchand, 25,  is a pest who knows how to put up points. Rask, 26,  has come into his own this year in the playoffs with his .942 save percentage, it leads goaltenders in the playoffs and his 1.78 goal against average is second to Chicago’s Corey Crawford.

The Windy City features a young core that is scary-good. Patrick Kane, 24, is one of the top playmakers in the game and has unbelievable hands. Jonathan Toews,25, this year’s Selke Award winner, is one of the best in the world. Patrick Sharp, 31, can snipe with some of the best. Duncan Keith, 29, a Norris Trophy winner, Brent Seabrook, 28, and Corey Crawford, 28, hold down the fort defensively. The average service time each player has spent with their respective club is five seasons. Eliminate Crawford from the mix and you have a group of men that has been together for six years.

In the past six seasons, Boston and Chicago have missed the playoffs once. Both have two conference titles and a Stanley Cup to their name. So what is the difference between these two franchises and the Flyers? You guessed it… Patience.

As Flyer fans, we have been conditioned to demand quick fixes. We are not very patient and want immediate results. The origins of this mindset leads to the big man himself, Ed Snider. Since Snider founded the Orange and Black, the Flyers have made sixteen trips to the final four of the NHL playoffs. That is the most appearances of any franchise. Since the Stanley Cup years in 1974 and 1975, the Flyers have made six more appearances in the Stanley Cup Final, only to fall short of their goal.

Win-now mode has brought numerous banners to the rafters, but those years have not brought the banners that truly matter. In ten years, nobody outside of Philadelphia will remember the 2010 Flyers – except the Bruins. What the Flyers need to do to win a championship is to change their approach on how they assemble a team. Trading away young, developing players has proved to be a mistake in the recent years. Sharp and Justin Williams, both former Flyers, have Stanley Cup rings and have made a name for themselves in the NHL. Williams has proved to be a clutch player when it really matters, while Sharp has multiple 30-goal seasons to his name. Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Sergei Bobrovsky? Their accomplishments away from Philadelphia have already been recorded and repeated over and over again.

After the Blackhawks beat the Flyers to win the Cup, they lost defenseman Brian Campbell and forward/defenseman Dustin Byfuglien. The following season, the ‘Hawks barely squeaked into the playoffs. After two consecutive years of first-round exits, the Chicago front office did not panic. They allowed the team to grow.

Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Flyers could be the next great core in the NHL. Captain Claude Giroux is entering his fifth season. Jakub Voracek is going into his third with the Flyers along with Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds. The average age of this core – Giroux, Voracek, Read, Simmonds, Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier – is 23.5 years old. Schenn and Couturier are entering their third season in the NHL. Richards, Carter and Bobrovsky did not become credible NHL members until their third season, and I’m not saying Schenn and Couturier will do the same but just something to nibble on during the off-season.

Giroux, 25, didn’t break out until his third season as well. His fourth season is already well documented.

While the trade rumors circulate, Flyers fans should pray Paul Holmgren holds tight to the youngsters. They may be going throw the normal growing pains of development but each player has the potential to contribute and contend for a Cup. Maybe another image of a former Flyer lifting the Cup will resonate with Paul Holmgren.

Who's going to sit with these two next season? (Courtesy: Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-US PRESSWIRE)

With Jaromir Jagr gone off to Dallas, G and Harts are left without a 3rd linemate. The Flyers didn’t add any top flight talent during the offseason (so far), so it looks like an opportunity for somebody already in the system to step up and take the role.

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Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

When the Carter and Richards trades initially happened there was no doubt a sudden onset of panic throughout Philly. We were going into that dreaded rebuilding phase. Fortunately for us we have a GM who basically made a lateral move with tons of potential upside. The Flyers got as far in the playoffs this season as they did last season so I would say the transition was nearly painless.

Jeff Carter is a goal scorer. That’s his game and it is what he does best. Cartsy had two 30 goal seasons and one 40 goal season in his six years with the Flyers. The most notable problem with Jeff was that he would put up good numbers every season, but nobody could recall a single goal he scored. Carter was infamous for potting a hat trick against a last place team in regular season game 26. He had no knack for the big moments and you can reference this chance from game 6 of the 2010 Cup Finals if you need to be reminded. The game is won and lost on goals so this is not to belittle Carter’s accomplishments. A team also needs clutch guys though. The type of players that deliver in crunch time. Those are the kind of players that win you championships, but it can also be said that players like Carter get you there. The bottom line with Carter is that he is a one trick pony. If he’s not scoring goals he’s nearly invisible on the ice.

Sean Couturier was taken 8th overall by the Flyers in last years NHL Entry Draft. They received the pick in the Jeff Carter trade along with Jake Voracek. Jake’s stats this year were 18/31/49. He had some really good stretches this year offensively and career wise he was 2 points shy of a career high. Couturier on the other hand was the jewel in the trade though. Sean’s two way game is unbelievable. I would argue that his defensive game is similar to Pavel Datsyuk. The job he did on Malkin in the first round was ridiculous. The fact that Laviolette had the confidence to  put such a large assignment on a 19 year old shows just how good this kid is. Malkin is a two time Art Ross Trophy winner. Last season being the second time he collected the hardware. Couturier was constantly draped over him and stick checking him every single time he possessed the puck. His offensive game was on display in a few games this season also. Although on paper he had a rather unimpressive stat line of 13/14/27 in 77 games played he was relegated to third and fourth line duties almost the entire season. His defensive game was what was of most use to this team, which had incredible depth at the forward position. He also dominated game 2 of the first round against the Pens. He had a hat trick in that game in which he was still being played on the fourth line. That was huge step for him offensively as it showed he has the raw offensive talent to take over a game. The problem is that many players, for example JVR, have the natural ability, but fail to use it on a nightly basis. I believe his true offensive talent has yet to be unleashed though. If I had to separate him and JVR using one phrase it would be that Sean’s a gamer and JVR just is not. I think Sean has that extra edge to his game that only the great ones play with. If he receives more playing time on one of the top two scoring lines he will no doubt eclipse 20 goals this year. He’s shown great maturity in just his rookie year at 19 years old. His career should be a good one to watch.

When it comes down to looking at what was won or lost in the trade I would say the Flyers lost some goal scoring. That is what Carter brought to the team. The Flyers however received a forward who will put up around 15 goals a season and the draft pick in which they used to bring Couturier in. In my opinion the trade got both teams want they wanted. The Blue Jackets needed to put pucks in the net and the Flyers needed a change in direction and a plan for the future. The Flyers received young talent with a lot of potential and the Blue Jackets got their goal scorer they sought after. As the trade played out Carter’s time in Columbus was short and unproductive, but as can be seen by his play with the Kings now he is clearly still a potent goal scorer.

-John LaMarra

Twitter – @popesnipes77

E-Mail – lamarrajunior@yahoo.com