Avalanche Clinch Minimum No. 2 Seed in NHL Western Conference Playoffs

HINTON, ALBERTA – Hello from Alberta. I am not writing to you from my usual Airbnb tonight, but from the town of Hinton. That’s about a three-hour drive from Edmonton, and so I write to you from a cheap motel where I shall reside for the next two nights.

Frankly, I needed to get out on the open road a bit, after three weeks essentially cooped up in the same two places, and this mountain town, with his big lakes and bigger mountains and fresh air and air-conditioned room is just what the doctor ordered.