Quicker, stronger Oystrick debuts for Thrashers

• LIGHTER OYSTRICK MAKES DEBUT: Nathan Oystrick passed up a lot of chocolate ice cream for this. Oystrick made his NHL debut Tuesday night, and he took the ice for the Thrashers as a 210-pound defenseman, 15 pounds lighter than his playing weight last season for the minor-league Chicago Wolves.

“I’m quicker, feel a lot stronger, better balance,” said Oystrick, who credited Wolves assistant coach Wendell Young with creating a summer training program for him to use in Chicago.

Sitting out the Thrashers’ first two games was a new experience for Oystrick, who was an iron man appearing in every game the past two seasons in Chicago.

Oystrick played in place of Zach Bogosian, who was a healthy scratch. Thrashers coach John Anderson said he wasn’t reacting to anything Bogosian did in the first two games but just giving Oystrick a chance.

“It’s hard to tell how good he is when he’s sitting in the stands,” Anderson said.

Oystrick was paired with Mathieu Schneider.

“Conditioning-wise, it’s the best I’ve ever seen [Oystrick],” said Anderson, who coached Oystrick in Chicago. “I’ve always thought his talent was there. He’s durable, he can score goals and he’s a great poke-check.”

Oystrick’s parents had to watch on TV. They had traveled to Oystrick’s uncle’s house in Calgary for Canadian Thanksgiving, which was Monday.

• INJURED THRASHER ON THE AIR: Mike Hoffman won’t make his NHL playing debut for awhile, but he made his NHL announcing debut over the weekend. Hoffman, out with a broken hand, provided color commentary for radio play-by-play man Dan Kamal.

“It was a lot of fun,” Hoffman said. “It’s something to do during the games, and you never know where it can lead to.”

Hoffman studied communications at the University of Connecticut and did color commentary last season after breaking his thumb playing for the AHL’s Portland Pirates.

An interesting side note on that injury, which occurred when he caught his thumb on a helmet: “I fought the rest of the fight with a broken thumb,” Hoffman said.

• KENSETH ON ICE: NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth took a Zamboni ride before the game and received a Thrashers sweater with his number, and Ilya Kovalchuk’s, 17.

— Mike Knobler