| Birth Date: | March 26, 1964 |
| Birth Place: | Fagersta, Sweden |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 1 |
| Weight Lb: | 203 |
| Position: | Defence |
| Shoots: | Left |
| Played For: | Hartford Whalers Pittsburgh Penguins New York Rangers Detroit Red Wings Philadelphia Flyers |
| Ntl Team: | SWE |
| Draft: | 67th overall |
| Draft Year: | 1982 |
| Draft Team: | Hartford Whalers |
| Career Start: | 1981 |
| Career End: | 2000 |
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.[1] 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".[2] 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.[3]
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 a game 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.[4]
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.[5] Domi insisted that Samuelsson provoked the punch by repeatedly calling him "dummy".[6]
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 US citizenship. His Swedish citizenship was revoked and he was not allowed to play. The entire ordeal was listed as the seventy-second most important international story by the IIHF in their centennial celebrations in 2008.[7]
Samuelsson is a resident of Scottsdale, Arizona.[8] Samuelsson's sons, Philip,[9] Henrik and Adam are professional hockey players. His daughter, Victoria, played hockey at Penn State University.[10]
On May 2, 2011, Samuelsson accepted the head coaching position of Modo Hockey, a position he held for two seasons.[11] [12]
On May 31, 2016, it was announced that Samuelsson accepted a head coach position with the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League.[13] [14] In 2017 Samuelsson was hired as an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League.[15] On November 6, 2018, he was fired along with head coach Joel Quenneville.[16]
| Team | League | GP | 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 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 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 | |||