He played in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings, and the Pittsburgh Penguins between 1985 and 1999.

[1] By the time Klíma was 20 years old, officials on his HC Dukla Jihlava team knew that the Detroit Red Wings were eager to bring the young star to the NHL.

[5] Polano stayed with Klíma as Lites and other Wings officials arranged for him to gain refugee status to enter the United States.

[citation needed] Less than a year later, at the 1984 Canada Cup, Klíma began talking to the Wings about the possibility of coming to the NHL after the 1984–85 season.

[7] Klíma, who spoke no English when he finally arrived in Detroit on 22 September 1985,[8] was fortunate that the Red Wings also managed to bring his girlfriend to the U.S.

In honor of his successful defection, a grateful and overjoyed Klíma requested sweater number 85 and wore it throughout his NHL career as a reminder of the year in which he gained freedom.

That situation came to a head during training camp on 23 September 1988, when Detroit suspended Klíma indefinitely, along with Bob Probert, for breaking team rules.

[14] He finally made his 1988–89 NHL regular season debut during Detroit's 6 November, game versus the Edmonton where he posted an assist.