Thrashers’ Oystrick making most of move from AHL

Nathan Oystrick still chews gum on the ice, but only in practice.

Some things, like in-game gum chewing, just don’t translate from the American Hockey League to the NHL.

“Guys are a lot bigger and stronger,” the Thrashers rookie said. “I figured I don’t want to get caught with my head down and [235-pound Capitals tough guy] Donald Brashear coming behind the net, hammering me and I don’t have a mouthguard in.”

Let the record show that, 14 games into his NHL career, Oystrick still has his teeth. And note that while he had to leave his gum behind when he moved up to the big league, his game has made the transition.

Oystrick, an offensive-minded defenseman, has scored goals in back-to-back games and has a three-game scoring streak that began with his first NHL assist Tuesday night in Toronto. The man who scored 15 goals each of the past two seasons for the Chicago Wolves is proving he can be productive at the sport’s highest level, too.

He scored on a shot from the slot Friday night against Nashville, then made a pass so good it gave Ilya Kovalchuk an empty net as a target.

“I knew Kovy was somewhere around the net, so I just sort of blindly threw it, and luckily it landed on his stick,” Oystrick said.

Luckily? It’s hard to consider Oystrick lucky, not when you consider how hard he works. He spent the summer dieting and working out under the direction of Wolves assistant coach Wendell Young, and Oystrick has been working ever since. He was the last one off the ice at practice Saturday, after taking part in every voluntary drill led by Thrashers assistant coach Randy Cunneyworth.

Oystrick isn’t likely to get complacent anytime soon. He goes home to a hotel room, but he has no complaints. It’s bigger than the apartment he lived in last year in Chicago, and the lodgings would be more than adequate for him and fiancée Lindsay Gendron if they just had an oven to go with the refrigerator and stove top.

“It’s kind of hard eating TV dinners every night,” Oystrick said. “Other than that, there’s a TV, there’s a bed, there’s a couch, Internet, a bathroom, a shower, everything else we need.”

They don’t bother with maid service because their cat, Tootie (first syllable rhymes with “foot”), likes to get loose and race up and down the hallway.

It took awhile for Oystrick to get off and running. He appeared in only one of the Thrashers’ first nine games. Then Zach Bogosian broke a leg, and suddenly Oystrick was an everyday player. Even then, it took awhile for him to begin feeling he belonged. He has gotten better and better.

“I think I’m a little bit more comfortable out there, more comfortable with my game, more comfortable with the NHl game, the speed, learning how guys play,” Oystrick said. “Learning your teammates is a big thing, where they’re going to be on the ice. If they’re in this spot, where should I be.

“Now that I’ve calmed down and gotten a little more comfortable, found out that hey, I can play in this league. It’s not easier, but things work out a little better.”

Thrashers coach John Anderson likes what he’s seeing.

“He’s one of those kids who’s really seen the fruits of his labor, right from the start of the summertime in Chicago,” Anderson said. “We saw him in every day at the practice facility and the gym working out. It’s probably the best condition he’s ever been in, and I know he can even be better.”

Bogosian is expected to return sometime in December, but Oystrick might be difficult to take out of the lineup. Anderson said he wouldn’t mind being forced to make a hard choice.

“If that’s the case, it’s a good decision, isn’t it?” he said. “I don’t see that being an issue for two or three weeks. A lot can happen in that time.”