Man of the Week: Eric O’Dell
KHL.ru continues its ‘Man of the Week’ column with Eric O’Dell. Last week, the Canadian veteran netted four goals in the Amur’s crease.
After last week’s game between Dynamo Moscow and Amur Khabarovsk, there’s something common between him and Nigel Dawes, Francis Pare, and Jordan Weal. They all hail from Canada, and they all have scored four goals in a KHL match. Dawes was the trailblazer for this achievement, as on the Feb 22, 2013, match between Barys and Traktor, he potted four goals for the Kazakhs in a 5:3 away victory. Pare followed through on Jan 10, 2015, scoring four tallies as Traktor defeated Amur on home soil (6:4). Weal was obviously the latest one of the trio to achieve this feat as he just joined our league last year – on Nov 6, 2021, he netted four as Ak Bars got the best of Avtomobilist (5:4). Then, O’Dell joined the club on Sep 29, when he scored four to Amur – in fewer than 16 minutes of time on ice. The Canadian Dynamo’s forward is at his seventh season in the league, and before wearing the Blue-and-White jersey he represented HC Sochi, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, and Sibir.
Early years
Eric O’Dell was born on Jun 21, 1990, in Ottawa, Ontario. O’Dell played four seasons (2007-2011) in the juniors in the Ontario Hockey League, where he scored 100 goals and 107 assists for 207 points in 198 games played with the Sudbury Wolves. In 2008 the forward helped Team Canada winning a gold medal at the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships in Kazan, and in the next season, he was chosen to represent his team at the OHL All-Star Game. In the meantime, he was picked at the NHL Entry Draft by the Anaheim Ducks with the 39th overall pick in 2008.
Pro hockey career
O’Dell had his pro hockey debut in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves during the 2009–2010 season after being traded to the Atlanta Thrashers organization, who signed him in the 2010 offseason. After the Thrashers relocated at the end of the 2011–12 NHL campaign, and moved to Winnipeg, O’Dell would play three seasons with the St. John’s Ice Caps of the AHL. In the 2013–14 season, the forward finally made his NHL, scoring his first NHL goal on Jan 11, 2014.
After his contract with the Jets run out, O’Dell signed with the Ottawa Senators. He would showcase excellent offensive abilities in the AHL with their affiliates, the Binghamton Senators, but was consequently traded to the Buffalo Sabres and played out the remainder of the season with the Rochester Americans. As an impeding free agent to the Sabres, O’Dell decided to leave North America and pursue a career in Europe.
Move to the KHL
After playing his whole career in North America, O’Dell signed with HC Sochi of the KHL. On the Black Sea shores, he was a key figure, scoring plenty of points and improving his contribution with each season. On Jan 7, 2019, O’Dell netted his first KHL hat-trick when Sochi defeated Sibir in a 5:3 home victory. However, after three successful seasons in Sochi, where he was also called to Team Canada for the 2018 Olympic Games in South Korea, two bleak years followed. First, O’Dell couldn’t repeat his success with Metallurg with only 17 (6+21) points in the 2019-2020 campaign. Then, he only lined up for nine games in the next season with Sibir Novosibirsk.
Move to Dynamo Moscow
After two unlucky seasons, O’Dell signed with Dynamo Moscow. In the Russian capital, he found his scoring touch back, contributing with 32 (13+19) points in 47 games, adding 8 (2+6) in the first-round series against Severstal. He was then brought back by the Blue-and-Whites for another season – the current one – where he, wearing the ‘A’ for Dynamo, is leading the team with 16 (8+8) points in just 14 games. Including his four-goal game, which guaranteed him a place in the league’s history. His chemistry with Dmitry Rashevsky and Jordan Weal is key for Dynamo Moscow, who is waiting for the powerful troika to produce when it matters the most – in the Gagarin Cup playoffs.
