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 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.[3]
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.
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][6] Domi insisted that Samuelsson provoked the punch by repeatedly calling him "dummy".[7][8]
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 His Swedish citizenship was revoked, and he was not allowed to play for his native country.[9] Sweden appealed the ruling to the CAS, but their appeal was rejected.[10][11] The entire ordeal was listed as the seventy-second most important international story by the IIHF in their centennial celebrations in 2008.[12]
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.
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