# 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 of 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 finals against the Minnesota North Stars, at 2:00 of the first period in what became an 8–0 blowout victory for Pittsburgh.
In game 3 versus the Boston Bruins during 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, a position he held for two seasons.
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 | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | 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 | NHL totals | NHL totals | 1,080 | 57 | 275 | 332 | 2,453 | 132 | 7 | 27 | 34 | 272 |
| SEL totals | SEL totals | 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 | Junior totals | Junior totals | 20 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 40 |
| Senior totals | Senior totals | Senior totals | 22 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 48 |

## Career achievements

* 2× Stanley Cup champion – 1991, 1992