Nathan Oystrick (born December 17, 1982) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

. Oystrick has previously played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) with the Atlanta Thrashers, Anaheim Ducks and

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

. He was originally drafted by the Thrashers in the seventh round, 198th overall, at the

2002 NHL Entry Draft __NOTOC__ The 2002 NHL Entry Draft was the 40th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 and 23, 2002 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Two hundred and ninety-one players were drafted in total: 35 from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL); ...

. Oystrick was named head coach of the Humboldt Broncos on July 3, 2018, but quit the position less than six months later without explanation.

Playing career

Oystrick was drafted 198th overall in the

by the Atlanta Thrashers. On March 1, 2010, Oystrick, along with a conditional pick, was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for forward Evgeny Artyukhin. Oystrick played in three games with the Ducks to end the 2009–10 season before he was bought-out from the remainder of his contract on June 30, 2010. On July 11, 2010, as a free agent, Oystrick signed a one-year contract with the

. Oystrick began the 2010–11 season with the Blues'

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL) affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, but on November 3, the Blues recalled him from Peoria. Oystrick signed a one-year contract as a free agent with the Phoenix Coyotes on July 6, 2011. In the 2011–12 season, Oysrick failed to make the Coyotes out of training camp and was reassigned to the team's affiliate, the Portland Pirates, for the duration of the year, scoring 43 points in 60 games. On June 2, 2012, Oystrick signed a one-year contract with

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL) side Lev Praha. On November 13, 2014, Oystrick returned to North America, signing a professional try-out contract with the Springfield Falcons of the AHL in the 2014–15 season. With an eye to his post-playing career, in the following season, Oystrick signed a one-year contract in a playing and assistant coach role with the

Elmira Jackals The Elmira Jackals were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Elmira, New York. They were members of the United Hockey League from 2000 to 2007 and the ECHL from 2007 to 2017. The Jackals played their home games at First Arena. On ...

of the ECHL, an affiliate of the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

on July 9, 2015.

Coaching career

During the 2015-16 off-season, Oystrick opted to end his professional playing career after 10 seasons, agreeing to an assistant coaching role with the

Atlanta Gladiators The Atlanta Gladiators are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Duluth, Georgia. The Gladiators play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference. They play their home games at Gas South Arena, approximately northeast o ...

on July 30, 2016. On July 3, 2018, Oystrick was named the head coach of the Humboldt Broncos of the

SJHL The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. Open to North American-born players 20 years ...

, replacing Darcy Haugan who was one of 16 people killed in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash. On December 28th, 2018, Oystrick announced his resignation from the post of GM and coach. No reason was given, although a formal statement was expected to follow. After leaving Humboldt, Oystrick went back to coaching in Colorado for the Colorado Academy Mustangs.

Career statistics

Awards and achievements

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oystrick, Nathan 1982 births Living people Anaheim Ducks players Atlanta Thrashers draft picks Atlanta Thrashers players Chicago Wolves players Elmira Jackals (ECHL) players HC Lev Praha players Sportspeople from Regina, Saskatchewan Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey players Peoria Rivermen (AHL) players Portland Pirates players St. Louis Blues players Springfield Falcons players Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Canadian ice hockey defencemen AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans