The Chaomutov native was a legend in Czechia and played parts of 13 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings and the Pittsburgh Penguins, tallying 573 points (313 goals, 260 assists) in 786 games. Klima won the Stanley Cup in 1990 as a member of the Edmonton Oilers.
Klima's path to the National Hockey League was not easy, to say the least. He became one of the first players to defect from the former Czechoslovakia in the 1980s. In 1985, he left a Czech national team training camp and went to an undisclosed location to meet with Detroit Red Wings officials, who helped him make it to North America, where he gained refugee status to enter the United States.
