He played as a right winger during the 1970s and early 1980s, and won the Golden Hockey Stick award as top player in Czechoslovakia four times, in 1973, 1975, 1976, and 1979.

Internationally, he played for the Czechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team, and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2001.

Nicknamed "the Fox" due to the unpredictability of his offensive manoeuvres, he scored 343 goals in 539 games in the elite league.

He played in the World Championships every year in the 1970s and in 1981 (on the winning side in 1972, 1976, and 1977, and making the all-star team in 1974, 1975, 1976, and 1977); he is the 7th all-time leading scorer in World Championships with 110 points (52 goals and 58 assists) in 102 games (top scorer in 1976 with 20 points in 10 games).

[1] He also played for Czechoslovakia in the 1972, 1976, and 1980 Winter Olympics,[2] and in the 1976 Canada Cup where he scored 7 points (3+4) in 7 games.