When connected over plain TCP to the ODL controller, the switch gets an OFPT_HELLO from the controller right away. When connected using SSL, the ODL controller does not initiate OFPT_HELLO. It waits for the switch to send OFPT_HELLO, then responds properly.

Section 6.3.1 of the OpenFlow spec states:
When an OpenFlow connection is first established, each side of the connection must immediately send an OFPT_HELLO message with the version field set to the highest OpenFlow protocol version supported by the sender.

So the ODL controller should initiate an OFPT_HELLO no matter what type of connection is established. (Note that the switch should do the same, of course.)