[NEWS] #Canes Hire Ulf Samuelsson to Coach @CheckersHockey → Details: https://t.co/bknHlR9UNF pic.twitter.com/ejBWecmFz6
— Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) May 31, 2016
The New York Rangers will have a coaching vacancy to fill, as Ulf Samuelsson has accepted the job as head coach of Carolina’s AHL affiliate.
Per reports, the Carolina Hurricanes have hired Rangers assistant Ulf Samuelson to coach their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.
Samuelson has coached the Rangers’ defensive unit for the past three seasons. He also manned the Rangers’ penalty kill, which greatly faltered down the stretch.
With a potential overhaul to the Blueshirts’ defensive core a possibility, this move may have come at a very strategic time.
Samuelson was a member of the 1991 and 1992 Stanley Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguins, and he scored the game winning goal in the 1991 Finals.
The teams full statement is attached below.
ULF SAMUELSSON TO COACH CHARLOTTE CHECKERS
Longtime NHL defenseman has 10 years of coaching experience
Ron Francis, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has hired Ulf Samuelsson to serve as head coach of the team’s top minor-league affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL).
“Ulf has built a very strong coaching resume during a decade behind the bench in the AHL, NHL and Swedish league,” said Francis. “He has a proven history of helping to develop young players and understands the organizational culture that we are building here.”
Samuelsson, 52, has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach with the New York Rangers, helping the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2014 and the conference final in 2015. Prior to joining the Rangers, he spent two seasons as head coach for Modo of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), posting a record of 38-15-16-41 and reaching the playoffs both years. The Fagersta, Sweden, native served as associate coach for the Phoenix Coyotes from 2006-07 until 2010-11, helping to guide the Coyotes to a franchise-record 50 wins in 2009-10, and playing an important role in the development of defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Keith Yandle and Zbynek Michalek. Samuelsson began his professional coaching career in 2005-06, serving as assistant coach for the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack.
A veteran of 16 NHL seasons, Samuelsson appeared in 1,080 career games as a player with the Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers. Selected by the Whalers in the fourth round, 67th overall, in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft, he totaled 57 goals and 275 assists (332 points), 2,453 penalty minutes and a plus-172 rating. He was a member of the Penguins’ Stanley Cup champion teams in 1991 and 1992, and appeared as an NHL All-Star during the Rendez-vous ’87 series against the Soviet National Team.
