A rude awakening from golden dreams: The German national ice hockey players, who came with the highest goals, got off to a shattering false start in their Olympic mission in Beijing.

Four years after winning the silver medal in South Korea, the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) had to accept a 1:5 (0:3, 1:1, 0:1) defeat against Canada at the start of the preliminary round - and missed a lot, what has distinguished them in recent years.

1,448 days after the semi-finals in Pyeongchang, in which the German team experienced the emotional climax of its winter fairy tale with a 4:3 win against the ice hockey motherland, it was downright overrun.

Alex Grant (5th minute), Munich DEL professional Ben Street (10th) and Daniel Winnik (11th) gave the world champion a 3-0 lead early on.

Only from the second third did the team of national coach Toni Söderholm, who had won 3-1 against the Canadians at the World Cup last year, defend themselves.

Ex-NHL striker Tobias Rieder (31st) shortened, but Maxim Noreau (33rd) quickly destroyed the burgeoning hopes, Jordan Weal took care of the final score (52nd).

The next opponent is host China on Saturday (9.40 a.m. CET in the FAZ live ticker for the Olympics, on ARD and on Eurosport).

Nine of the 2018 Silver Heroes took to the ice in front of 685 spectators at the Wukesong Sports Center, with goaltender Danny aus den Birken watching the game from the stands.

And he saw a painful start: especially for defender Marco Nowak, who went down after a very hard check from Eric O'Dell.

Immediately afterwards, Grant scored to make it 0-1, goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger had lost his racket shortly before.

Nowak disappeared into the cabin.

Big goals

The Canadians caused big problems for captain Moritz Müller and Co. with their hard, no-frills game.

A double strike within 32 seconds ensured clear conditions early on.

When the third goal was conceded, Niederberger steered the puck into the goal himself.

The men in front didn't find their way into the game at all, and four manpower situations in a row were unsuccessful - until Rieder briefly brought new hope.

Without their NHL stars, the maple leaves in Beijing rely on a European selection and young talents.

Captain Eric Staal spreads the most shine with the world champion: The 37-year-old has 1376 NHL games under his belt, was the 2006 Stanley Cup winner and the 2010 gold medalist in Vancouver.

The German team arrived with great self-confidence and high standards.

"The expectation outside is definitely a win," said Captain Müller before the game, "and that's what we have." After fourth place at the last World Cup, the defender openly spoke of gold as a goal.