Career
Nedomanský is best known as the first hockey player to defect to North America to play. Nedomanský played for Slovan Bratislava of the Czechoslovak Extraliga for twelve seasons. He also played for Czechoslovakia in nine IIHF World Championships, and was named top forward at the 1974 world championships.
He is manager of the Slovak national team in North America.
Nedomanský defected in 1974 to Toronto via Switzerland. He was not able to return to his home country until after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
He played just over three seasons in the World Hockey Association with the Toronto Toros and the Birmingham Bulls, peaking with 56 goals and 98 points for Toronto in 1975-1976. He then signed as a free agent with the National Hockey League"s Detroit Red Wings in 1977.
Nedomanský played five seasons for Detroit, posting highs of 38 goals and 74 points.
He retired after one final season with the Saint Louis Blues and the New York Rangers in 1982-1983. Nedomanský coached in Germany and Austria from 1987 to 1991. He was born in Hodonin, in eastern Moravia in the present-day Czechoslovakian Republic but very close to the Slovak border.
Today, he claims to feel more Slovak than Czechoslovakian, having lived in Bratislava for a number of years.