Ulf Samuelsson

Ulf Samuelsson (born March 26, 1964, Fagersta, Västmanlands län, Sweden) is a retired Swedish professional ice hockey player and currently an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes. He played for the Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers. He is the only European player to receive more than 200 penalty minutes in a season, a feat he "accomplished" three times.

Biography
He specialized in heavy body checks and agitating opponents. His playing style also prompted his English nickname Robocop for the suit of armor like padding he wore and Tuffe Uffe ("Tough Ulf" in Swedish) in Sweden.

Labels of "dirty player" and "cheap-shot artist" stuck with Samuelsson throughout his NHL career. Later in the 1991 playoffs, in the Eastern Conference Finals, against the Boston Bruins, he delivered a knee on knee hit to Cam Neely. In addition, he ended the career of forward Pierre Mondou with a high stick to the eye while playing for Hartford in a game versus Montreal on March 9, 1985. His knee on knee hits and aggressive play earned him the reputation of a "dirty" player. He was later sucker punched by fellow NHL player Tie Domi shortly after Domi was called for a penalty and had his stick grabbed behind the goal by Samuelsson.

Playing career
Samuelsson was selected 67th overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 with Ron Francis in a deal that helped them win Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992. He scored the 1991 Stanley Cup-winning goal in Game 6 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.

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 a US citizenship. His Swedish citizenship was revoked and he wasn't allowed to play. In 2003, when Sweden permitted double citizenships, Ulf got his Swedish passport back. 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 Nedved and Sergei Zubov.


 * March 23, 1999- Traded by the New York Rangers to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Detroit's 1999 2nd round draft choice and the Ranger's 1999 3rd 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.

Coaching career

 * 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-present Assistant Coach Phoenix Coyotes

Awards

 * Played in "Rendez-vous '87". The two games between the NHL All-Stars and the Soviet national team in Quebec City, 1987.

International play

 * Played for Team Sweden in the World Junior Championships 1982, -83 and -84.
 * Played for Team Sweden in the European Junior Championships 1982.
 * Played for Team Sweden in the World Championships 1985 and -90.
 * Played for Team Sweden in the Canada Cup 1992.
 * Played for Team Sweden in the Olympics 1998 (first part only).

International statistics