Editor's note: Sarah McLellan is covering the Wild during the NHL postseason in her birthplace of Edmonton, but first must spend 14 days confined to her hotel room. She'll write regularly to her father, who now lives in Arizona, with an update on life with limited freedom.
Dear Dad,
Hockey is on the horizon.
The Wild is traveling to Edmonton today, along with 11 other Western Conference teams while the 12 Eastern clubs descend on Toronto, and the games will restart next Saturday. This is really happening. It still feels a bit surreal, but my excitement is only growing by the day.
Although we both flew from Minnesota to Canada, the Wild will not have the same experience as I did settling into Edmonton. Players will not have to quarantine for 14 days like I'm doing. The NHL received an exception from the Canadian government, with players kept away from the public in the bubble and screened regularly. Still, they're being instructed to stay mostly in their hotel rooms for the first five days. They can, for example, leave for training.
What is similar for both of us is that we don't know how long we'll be here in Edmonton, a trip that had a definite start but no clear end.

With a best-of-five series against Vancouver on deck, the Wild will at least be here through Aug.6 to play the minimum three games. But if it advances and keeps moving on, the team could be living out of the bubble into October.
That would also mean I'll be here into October.