Nedomansky was a hockey pioneer. He became the first player to defect from Eastern Europe to North America when he left Czechoslovakia to play with Toronto of the World Hockey Association in 1974.

By then, "Big Ned" was regarded by many as the best player in the world not in the NHL -- a 6-foot-2, 205-pound center who could dominate a game at his natural position and could also either play wing or drop back as a defenseman. He was a star for 12 seasons in the Czech Elite League, leading the league in goals and points three times (1966-67, 1971-72 and 1973-74). He was also a two-time Olympic medalist, helped Czechoslovakia win the IIHF World Championship in 1972 and was named best forward at the 1974 World Championship.

But soon after that, Nedomansky secured a visa to take his family on a trip to Switzerland; from there, he flew to North America and joined Toronto. "One of the happiest moments was when I immigrated to Canada," he told the Hockey Hall of Fame website. "That way, I was a free man. I could develop not only as a hockey player, but as a person."

Czechoslovakia stripped him of his citizenship and expunged most of his records. But if that bothered Nedomansky, it didn't show in his play. He scored 41 and 56 goals in two seasons with Toronto and 36 in 1976-77 after the franchise moved to Birmingham, Alabama.

Nedomansky began the 1977-78 season with Birmingham but was part of a rare NHL-WHA trade on Nov. 18, 1977, when he was sent to the Detroit Red Wings along with forward Tim Sheehy for two players and future considerations.

The move didn't keep Nedomansky from continuing to produce. He scored 38 goals for the Red Wings in 1978-79 and 35 in 1979-80, but his offensive numbers began to drop after he passed his 36th birthday. He played two more seasons with the Red Wings, then split 1982-83 between the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers before retiring with 278 points (122 goals, 156 assists) in 421 NHL games.

For more than 30 years after retirement, he worked as a scout for the Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators, as well as the Vegas Golden Knights during their first two NHL seasons. He also was a member of Team Europe management for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

Nedomansky was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1997 and into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019.