Dougie Hamilton has heard the hip-hop anthem “Teach Me How To Dougie” a sickening amount of times. He’s heard it every way, from the original – released in 2010 by Cali Swag District – to the Johnny Boychuk locker room rendition. 

“It’s getting pretty old now, but it’s obviously nice,” Hamilton said Friday night. 

The 19-year-old Hamilton wasn’t saying he still appreciates the musical integrity of rappers C-Smoove, Yung and JayAre. He was referring to hearing the song for the first time in a new setting: at TD Garden in reference to his first-career multi-point game in the NHL. 

After Hamilton started the play that resulted in a third-period Patrice Bergeron breakaway goal and his second assist of the night, chants of “Dougie” filled TD Garden on his next shift. Shortly after that came the musical tribute, complete with dancing fans who had spent the previous season Dougie-ing in anticipation of the Hamilton era in Boston. 

The scene was all too reminiscent of Oct. 28, 2010, when the first “Thank you, Kessel” chants rang out following Tyler Seguin’s second-period goal against the Maple Leafs. Back then, Seguin admitted that he was trying not to laugh. Hamilton, the other major piece of the Phil Kessel trade (Seguin and Hamilton were the players picked with the two first-rounders that went to Boston in the 2009 trade), had a similar experience as his de facto theme song played. 

“I think we had the lead out there, so I was kind of watching it a little bit. I started laughing when it came on,” Hamilton said after the win. “I don’t know, I’ve gotten used to it the last couple of years, but it’s definitely cool.”

Hamilton, the ninth overall pick in the 2011 draft, had to go to Niagara for his fourth OHL season this fall due to the lockout, but despite him appearing to be NHL-ready heading into the season, there at least figured to be some sort of adjustment period. 

Despite it generally taking defensemen longer to get used to the NHL, that really hasn’t been the case for Hamilton. There have been some hiccups – he could have cleared a couple of rebounds that eventually resulted in goals against the Jets and the Rangers – but he has generally been responsible and well-positioned defensively, while becoming increasingly comfortable offensively. His shots from the point always seem to get through – either to the goaltender or to a Bruin in front of the net. 

Hamilton wasn’t an overly physical player in the OHL, which he attributed to being a bigger guy (6-foot-5, 199 pounds) and thus a bigger target for referees against younger, smaller guys. That made sense in theory, but there still figured to be some sort of acclimation to the bigger, stronger forwards he’d be facing. 

Yet on the whole, it’s been smooth sailing for Hamilton. Just four games into his NHL career, he looks like a seasoned vet. The perceived obstacles haven’t been daunting, and any preseason talk about growing pains for the rookie now looks silly. 

“I think most of you guys are more surprised than I am, but I think for me, I didn’t really have any expectations,” Hamilton said. “I just wanted to come in and do my best. I’ve gotten a lot of opportunities so far playing with a lot of great players, so it makes it a lot easier on me.” 

Hamilton could have had more than two points Friday night. An intentionally wide shot from the point in the first period yielded a good chance for Bergeron in front, but he was stopped on the doorstep by Rick DiPietro. On the shift after his third-period assist (the one that yielded the chants), he stepped up to fire a slapshot between the circles that was also stopped, but he was feeling it. He wasn’t timid, but at home on the NHL ice. 

“I think for a young guy that’s the biggest cornerstone you’ve got to overcome,” Tuukka Rask said. “Sometimes you squeeze your stick too hard and you’re not going to make those plays you normally do, but he’s been so good at that and not squeezing his stick and being too nervous.”

Through four NHL games, Hamilton has three points (all assitsts). That isn’t the nearly point-and-a-half-per-game pace he kept up last season with 72 points in 50 OHL games, but it’s enough to make him a fan favorite early on. It’s also enough to explain why Zdeno Chara called him “way better than I was at his age” and why the Bruins may have gotten a steal with that draft pick in 2011. 

“I think that’s why our guys drafted him, because they saw a lot of things we’re seeing right now,” Claude Julien said. “We liked his size, we liked the way he moved on the ice, but at the same time, we thought he had real good hockey sense. He sees the ice well, he finds the passing lanes and you saw on that goal, breakout out of our own end. You see the guy scoring, but it all starts from our end, and that was from his pass to Marchand [who passed to] Bergy for the breakaway. Those kind of things is what our scouts saw in him and those kind of things he’s demonstrating right now. You have to be pleased and impressed with a young player playing the way he has been.”