And With That, Philadelphia's Love Affair With Scottie Upshall Came to an Abrupt End

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Since his somewhat surprising trade out of Philadelphia along with a draft pick for a player with lesser talents in Dan Carcillo, Scottie Upshall's absence has been lamented by many Flyers fans. After only a little over a period into his first visit back to the Wells Fargo Center, it was only Upshall's blood the home fans wanted. Here's the aftermath of why. 
Video below:

Oskars Bartulis, back in the lineup for the first time since January 11 due to an injury to Sean O'Donnell, lay crumpled on the ice after the sharp, questionably lined up hit by Upshall. It was just before the whistle, and away from the boards at least when it started, but the stationary Bartulis never saw the Ups truck coming. Upshall would get a 2-minute minor for boarding.

"You know I was just going hard to the net; I couldn’t see where the puck was actually. I didn’t intentionally go to hit him or drive him into the boards. I think he was kind of off balance," Upshall said about the hit. "It was just a routine shoulder-to-shoulder play going hard to the net and I hope he’s alright."

Paul Holmgren saw it differently, "You know, Oskars was just standing there minding his own business. It was a late hit but it depends on how Oskars is. I guess I have a little bit of a problem with it, yeah. It’s not really like Scottie to do that, but things happen."

The crowd booed Upshall on his way to the bench, and every subsequent time he touched the puck. Andrej Meszaros later followed it up with an elbow, which earned him a trip to the box as well, but Upshall otherwise survived the game unpunished by Flyers' vengeance in a close game.

Bartulis left the game with the expected "upper body injury" and would not return. An MRI is scheduled for tomorrow. Homer said after the game that Sean O'Donnell could actually be ready to return for Thursday's game. More on Bartulis as we hear it.

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