DETROIT – James van Riemsdyk joined his new teammates on the ice for the first time Wednesday, leading the pre-practice stretch while players tapped their sticks to congratulate him.

Van Riemsdyk spent the past two weeks home in Minnesota after his wife gave birth to twin boys.

“First and foremost, I just really wanted to express my appreciation and gratefulness to the Red Wing organization, particularly Steve (Yzerman) and Todd (McLellan),” van Riemsdyk said. “You come to a new team and you don’t really know everyone that well, but just how supportive they were the last few weeks, last few months actually, of dealing with some stuff, with the birth of our twins and just some stuff related to that with the pregnancy for my wife, just how great they were with me.”

The couple’s twin boys

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