Veteran Olympian O'Dell's thunderous hit sets tone for Canadian men's hockey team in opening win over Germany

Eric O'Dell is not a big name on the Canadian men's Olympic hockey team. The Ottawa product plays on the third line — the energy line — and is expected to forecheck hard, cycle the puck and maximize his minutes.

The 31-year-old centre did just that Thursday, flattening defenceman Marco Nowak just four minutes into Canada's opening match against Germany.

The thunderous bodycheck sent Nowak crashing to the ice. With Team Germany seemingly in shock — and Nowak still in a heap behind the net ­— defenceman Alex Grant ripped a wrist shot top shelf to give Canada a 1-0 lead.

"He came around the net with his head down and I finished my check," O'Dell said, mildly understating the impact of the bone-rattling collision with Nowak. "The team built off that and we got a couple of goals after that.

"So it was good."

WATCH | O'Dell sets the tone for Canada early:

Good? Try great as Canada went on to beat Germany 5-1 in a convincing victory that O'Dell hopes sets the tone for the entire tournament.

The 2022 non-NHL version of Team Canada includes names that hockey fans will need to look up on the internet, but it's deep, it's physical, and it's in Beijing to win.

Making the opening-night victory even sweeter is the fact Canada lost to Germany in the semifinals at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

On Thursday, Canada stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and never looked back.

WATCH | Watch Canada's tournament-opening victory over Germany:

"It was everything you hope for happens," Grant said in describing the night. "It's kind of what you dream of."

The day started like a dream for Team Canada when Claude Julien touched down in China. Just prior to the opening faceoff, Hockey Canada announced the 2009 Jack Adams