In this paper, basing on the generating function for the van der Pol numbers, utilizing the Maclaurin power series expansion and two power series expressions of a function involving the cotangent function, and by virtue of the Wronski formula and a derivative formula for the ratio of two differentiable functions, the authors derive four determinantal expressions for the van der Pol numbers, discover two identities for the Bernoulli numbers and the van der Pol numbers, prove the increasing property and concavity of a function involving the cotangent function, and establish two alternative Maclaurin power series expansions of a function involving the cotangent function. The coefficients of the Maclaurin power series expansions are expressed in terms of specific Hessenberg determinants whose elements contain the Bernoulli numbers and binomial coefficients.