Bruins honor van Riemsdyk for 1,000th NHL game in front of family, friends

BOSTON – James van Riemsdyk may not have had a lot of friends and family at his first NHL game, on Oct. 2, 2009, but he had quite a few when the Boston Bruins held a pregame ceremony to celebrate him reaching No. 1,000.

Van Riemsdyk estimated he had between 70 and 80 of his friends and family in the stands on Saturday as the Bruins faced the Philadelphia Flyers, the team for which van Riemsdyk played 527 of his 1,003 games.

“That’ll be a lot of fun, lots of family, friends, a couple different coaches that I played for, former teammates from along the way,” van Riemsdyk said. “It’s pretty special, especially to have the turnout from some of the people that are coming. I definitely didn’t necessarily expect to have that many people.” 

It was a far cry from his first game, against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, where he had just a few friends who had driven down, but not his parents. In that game, he got an assist. He now has 318 in his career, to go along with 311 goals, for 629 points in 1,003 games.

The Bruins played a tribute video that included messages from general manager Don Sweeney, defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who played against van Riemsdyk as a kid and who is now his teammate on the Bruins, University of New Hampshire coach Dick Umile, former Flyers and current New York Rangers coach Peter Laviolette and parents Frans and Allison van Riemsdyk, along with brothers Trevor and Brendan. They also gave him the traditional silver stick, to go along with other gifts from both the Flyers and Bruins.

He hit No. 1,000 on March 5, in a game against the Edmonton Oilers. 

Van Riemsdyk returned Saturday from an illness that had cost him 12 pounds this week. He missed the team’s game Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal but felt good enough by Saturday to play.