Bruins’ Matthew Poitras ‘Running On Adrenaline’ With Team Canada

Matthew Poitras on Tuesday arrived in Sweden for morning skate with Team Canada, which capped off a hectic 24 hours for the Bruins forward.

Boston on Monday allowed the 19-year-old to play at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship. The chance to represent Canada on a prestigious stage was a “dream come true” for Poitras, and general manager Don Sweeney saw “no downside” to the move.

However, the assignment meant Poitras had to quickly hop on a plane to arrive on time for practice.

“It actually didn’t feel too bad. I think I’m just running on adrenaline right now, couple hours of sleep,” Poitras told TSN. “It kind of just felt like a really long day, honestly. I haven’t really slept, not too bad.”

The World Juniors might not mean much to most Americans, but it’s an important tournament in Canada. Poitras will join Canadiens prospect Owen Beck, and Team Canada has plenty of New England representation with Boston University forward Macklin Celebrini and UConn forward Matthew Wood. Poitras also met a somewhat familiar face in Morgan Geekie’s brother.

“I think it’s pretty exciting,” Conor Geekie told TSN. “He’s obviously done some pretty special things this year. Really happy to have a guy like that of that caliber. He played with my brother, so I’ve heard nothing but good things.”

Beck helped lead Canada to World Juniors gold last year, and Poitras is expected to add more to its offense to help it repeat.