Bears’ Bourque reaches 500 points

In his return to the Hershey Bears, Chris Bourque wasted little time reaching a career milestone.

With his first-period assist in the Bears’ 2015-16 season opener at Springfield on Saturday night, Bourque became the 89th player in American Hockey League history to reach 500 career points.

Bourque added a goal later in the contest as Hershey defeated the Falcons, 5-1.

Bourque, who has played 393 of his 511 career regular-season AHL games with the Bears, has now totaled 172 goals and 329 assists for 501 points. He has won three Calder Cups with Hershey (2006, 2009, 2010), and earned the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP in 2010.

The 29-year-old native of Boston is just the seventh U.S.-born player to reach 500 AHL points. Bourque is a three-time AHL All-Star Classic participant and has twice been named a First Team AHL All-Star, including last season with Hartford.

Bourque was originally selected by Washington in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He has recorded two goals and six assists in 51 career NHL games with Washington, Pittsburgh and Boston.