Ulf Samuelsson

Ulf Bo Samuelsson (born March 26, 1964) is a Swedish-American former professional ice hockey defenceman who formerly served as assistant coach of the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League. He played several seasons in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, and Philadelphia Flyers. He is a two-time Stanley Cup champion, winning with the Penguins in 1991 and 1992, and the first European-born player to have 2,000 career penalty minutes.

During his playing career, Samuelsson was viewed by NHL stars as "the most hated man in hockey"; he was described to The New York Times as "the lowest form of human being" and someone whose play is all about "trying to hurt you and knock you out of the game". He is also infamous for his knee-to-knee hit on Boston Bruins Cam Neely during the 1991 playoffs that was a contributing factor in Neely's early retirement five years later. Throughout his NHL career, Samuelsson was heavily criticized by hockey commentator Don Cherry for his style of play.

Playing career

Samuelsson was selected 67th overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1982 NHL entry draft. In February 1987, Samuelsson played in the "Rendez-vous '87" series as a member of the NHL All-Stars. The two-game series between the NHL All-Stars and the Soviet national team took place in Quebec City and replaced the NHL's mid-season all-star game for the 1986–87 season.

He was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins along with Ron Francis in 1991 and was a member of Pittsburgh's Stanley Cup winning team in 1991 and 1992. He scored the 1991 Stanley Cup-winning goal in game six of the Final against the Minnesota North Stars, at 2:00 of the first period in what became an 8–0 blowout victory for Pittsburgh.

In game three versus the Boston Bruins during the Prince of Wales Conference final of the 1991 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Samuelsson hit Bruins' star forward Cam Neely with a knee-on-knee check that injured Neely and caused him to develop a condition called myositis ossificans, which ultimately ended his career.

As a member of the New York Rangers in 1995, Samuelsson was knocked unconscious by a punch to the face from Tie Domi of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Domi received an eight-game suspension and a fine for the incident. Domi insisted that Samuelsson provoked the punch by repeatedly calling him "dummy".

Samuelsson played 1,080 career NHL games, scoring 57 goals and 275 assists for 332 points. He accumulated 2,453 penalty minutes over the course of his career.

During the Nagano Olympics, he was ejected from the Swedish team when it was discovered that he had requested and received U.S. citizenship. His Swedish citizenship was revoked, and he was not allowed to play for his native country. Sweden appealed the ruling to the CAS, but their appeal was rejected. The entire ordeal was listed as the seventy-second most important international story by the IIHF in their centennial celebrations in 2008.

Transactions March 4, 1991 – traded by the Hartford Whalers, along with Ron Francis and Grant Jennings, to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for John Cullen, Jeff Parker, and Zarley Zalapski August 31, 1995 – traded by the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with Luc Robitaille, to the New York Rangers in exchange for Petr Nedvěd and Sergei Zubov. March 23, 1999 – traded by the New York Rangers to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Detroit's 1999 second round draft choice and the Rangers' 1999 third round draft choice. June 25, 1999 – traded by the Detroit Red Wings to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for future considerations. October 19, 1999 – signed as a free agent by the Philadelphia Flyers.

Personal life Samuelsson is a resident of Scottsdale, Arizona. Samuelsson's sons, Philip, Henrik and Adam, are professional hockey players. His daughter, Victoria, played hockey at Penn State University.

Coaching career On May 2, 2011, Samuelsson accepted the head coaching position of Modo Hockey,

On May 31, 2016, it was announced that Samuelsson accepted a head coach position with the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League. In 2017 Samuelsson was hired as an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. On November 6, 2018, he was fired along with head coach Joel Quenneville.

2003–04, head coach, Phantoms Ice Hockey Club squirt minor AAA 2004–05, assistant coach, Avon Old Farms School 2005–06, assistant coach, Hartford Wolf Pack 2006–11, assistant coach, Phoenix Coyotes 2011–13, head coach, Modo Hockey 2013–16, assistant coach, New York Rangers 2016–17, head coach, Charlotte Checkers 2017–18, assistant coach, Chicago Blackhawks 2019–20, pro scout, Seattle Kraken 2019–20, head coach, Leksands IF 2020–21, assistant coach, Florida Panthers

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1980–81 Fagersta AIK SWE III 22 11 5 16 — — — — — — 1981–82 Leksands IF SEL 31 3 1 4 40 — — — — — 1982–83 Leksands IF SEL 33 9 6 15 72 — — — — — 1983–84 Leksands IF SEL 36 5 11 16 53 — — — — — 1984–85 Hartford Whalers NHL 41 2 6 8 83 — — — — — 1984–85 Binghamton Whalers AHL 36 5 11 16 92 — — — — — 1985–86 Hartford Whalers NHL 80 5 19 24 174 10 1 2 3 38 1986–87 Hartford Whalers NHL 78 2 31 33 162 5 0 1 1 41 1987–88 Hartford Whalers NHL 76 8 33 41 159 5 0 0 0 8 1988–89 Hartford Whalers NHL 71 9 26 35 181 4 0 2 2 4 1989–90 Hartford Whalers NHL 55 2 11 13 177 7 1 0 1 2 1990–91 Hartford Whalers NHL 62 3 18 21 174 — — — — — 1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 14 1 4 5 37 20 3 2 5 34 1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 62 1 14 15 206 21 0 2 2 39 1992–93 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 77 3 26 29 249 12 1 5 6 24 1993–94 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 80 5 24 29 199 6 0 1 1 18 1994–95 Leksands IF SEL 2 0 0 0 8 — — — — — 1994–95 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 44 1 15 16 113 7 0 2 2 8 1995–96 New York Rangers NHL 74 1 18 19 122 11 1 5 6 16 1996–97 New York Rangers NHL 73 6 11 17 136 15 0 2 2 30 1997–98 New York Rangers NHL 73 3 9 12 122 — — — — — 1998–99 New York Rangers NHL 67 3 9 12 93 — — — — — 1998–99 Detroit Red Wings NHL 4 0 0 0 6 9 0 3 3 10 1999–2000 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 49 1 2 3 58 — — — — — NHL totals 1,080 57 275 332 2,453 132 7 27 34 272 SEL totals 102 17 18 35 173 — — — — —

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1982 Sweden EJC 5 2 1 3 10 1982 Sweden WJC 7 1 2 3 18 1983 Sweden WJC 1 0 1 1 2 1984 Sweden WJC 7 1 4 5 10 1985 Sweden WC 9 1 2 3 22 1990 Sweden WC 7 2 0 2 18 1991 Sweden CC 3 0 0 0 4 1998 Sweden OG 3 0 1 1 4 Junior totals 20 4 8 12 40 Senior totals 22 3 3 6 48

Career achievements 2× Stanley Cup champion – 1991, 1992