• All 31 NHL Teams Featured Throughout Roughly 100 Games Across NBC and NBCSN; 21 Teams Make At Least Four Appearances

• Schedule Features Wednesday Night Hockey and Tuesday Hockey Happy Hour Doubleheaders; More Than 75% of Teams Appear on Wednesday Nights

NBC Sports announced its full regular-season schedule that will feature all 31 NHL teams across roughly 100 games on NBC and NBCSN, beginning January 13 with a Wednesday Night Hockey tripleheader on NBCSN headlined by the defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning against the Chicago Blackhawks.

NBC Sports will present a record 16 regular-season games on the NBC broadcast network, beginning Sunday, Jan. 17 when the Pittsburgh Penguins host the Washington Capitals.

In December, the NHL announced a 56-game regular-season schedule per team for the 2020-21 season, as well as a divisional realignment which limits team matchups to intra-division play and minimizes team travel as much as possible.

 • No team will have more than seven exclusive appearances on NBC and NBCSN and 21 teams will have at least four national appearances this year.

 • Some teams will appear nationally more than seven times, but those games will be blacked out in the local market and shown on their local RSN.

Additional NHL NBC schedule highlights:

 • Wednesday Night Hockey Presented by New Amsterdam Vodka on NBCSN – More than 75% of NHL teams will appear on Wednesday nights on NBCSN, and most will feature doubleheaders (and in some cases tripleheaders) surrounding its Wednesday Night Hockey coverage, including both early and late start times.

 •Tuesday Hockey Happy Hours – Three Tuesday Hockey Hour doubleheaders (Feb. 2, Feb. 9 and March 9) that will begin at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

 • NHL on NBC – NBC Sports will showcase the NHL 16 times on NBC – once per week on average during the 2020-21 season – marking the most-ever NHL regular-season games on NBC. In addition, the final matchup on Saturday, May 8, is TBD and will feature the most compelling game with playoff implications.

 • Sunday Night Hockey on NBCSN – There will be 10 Sunday Night Hockey matchups on NBCSN, featuring teams from all four divisions, all four Conference Final teams from the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and a majority of matchups featuring a traditional Western Conference team.

2020-21 NHL NBC REGULAR-SEASON SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES EASTERN)

*subject to change

*Some games will be blacked out in local markets and televised in those markets by a regional carrier.

Last spring, two of the most decorated gymnasts in collegiate history were leading their teams on a path to the NCAA championships. Oklahoma’s Maggie Nichols and UCLA’s Kyla Ross were both having record-breaking senior seasons with their eyes set on more — until March 12.

The season was abruptly canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, bringing an unceremonious end to the competitive careers of Nichols and Ross.

Nichols, a 2015 world champion with the U.S. team, led the Sooners to two team titles in 2017 and 2019, also winning six individual titles. Ross, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist with the national team, helped the Bruins to a 2018 national team title and earned four individual national titles. While the anticlimactic finish to their athletic careers still stings, both are back with their respective teams as student assistant coaches.

Ahead of this week’s NCAA championships (April 16-17, ESPN2 and ABC), where Oklahoma looks to win its fourth team title since 2016 and UCLA narrowly missed out on qualifying for the first time since 2006 but will have three individuals competing, ESPN revisited a conversation with the two retired gymnasts. Nichols and Ross, who have known each other since their days at the elite level, chatted about their new roles, what’s next and the legacies they believe they left as competitors.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What are your first memories of one another?

Ross: I think it was when we had one of the championships in your hometown [in St. Paul in 2011].

Nichols: I just remember way back then, Kyla was so good and I looked up to her a lot, even though we were around the same age. Back then, I was just getting into the scene, and Kyla was getting up there, so it was really fun to watch her. I just remember her being kind of quiet, but always really sweet and nice.

Ross: Being in Maggie’s hometown, I think I really was rooting for her and wanting to see her do the best she could, and it being her first year in, I know that’s always so stressful, just getting used to everything, but just wanting to cheer her on.

What was that first day like in your new role?

Nichols: It was really exciting. I really didn’t know what to expect and how I would feel. But I think it’s such a great experience and I feel like I’m still a part of the team. I’m really enjoying the experience and I feel like I have a different perspective than the coaches, because I just did gymnastics last year and so I feel like I can give different corrections and things like that. I just love still being a part of this sport in some way.

Ross: That first practice being back with the team was so rewarding and fulfilling, especially being in quarantine for so long, it’s like you crave that sense of being able to just be near someone, even though we’re technically not even supposed to hug or touch anyone. But just being in that same room and coming in collectively, working toward a goal together, is something that I missed so much over the months we were quarantining.

What do you try to bring to the team in your new position?

Nichols: I always strive to learn every gymnast, because everyone’s different and everyone takes in corrections differently or has different attitudes, so really getting to know the girls personally and athletically.

Ross: For me, I want to take this year and gain as much experience as I can to see if I potentially want to coach in the future, so I think just observing how the other coaches are interacting with the girls is something that I’ve tried to focus on a lot. Like Maggie said, forming those connections, because knowing how that person is doing mentally and emotionally is so important to help them get through the day and be the best physically and understanding what that gymnast needs in that moment.

What has surprised you most about coaching so far?

Ross: I didn’t think this much time and energy went into writing up a workout, but now I know, it is a lot of effort just to try to organize and each day there has to be a main focus. I think just seeing all the behind-the-scenes work of how much the other coaching staff does to ensure the best experience for the girls is something.

Nichols: I think we just realize the things they do outside of the gym. They do so much busy work and [Oklahoma head coach] K.J. [Kindler] does [leotard] designs and all of that. Just so many things I couldn’t even explain. But I think we appreciate them so much more knowing all the hard work they put into our sport.

Ross: Just being able to experience the coach’s side, even just for a day, I think is something that could be really eye-opening to the gymnasts.

Nichols: Also, it’s kind of funny, but just standing there the whole time is so much different than when you’re flipping and always moving and stuff like that. The first few weeks, my body was kind of hurting standing there.

Ross: I totally agree, Maggie. My legs, my back, I was like, “Oh my gosh. Is this retirement? This is terrible.”

Have you found activities to help replace gymnastics in your daily life?

Nichols: Something that I’ve really enjoyed is indoor cycling. It’s called CycleBar here. I’m looking into becoming, it’s called a cycle star. You’re a cycling instructor. It keeps me very active and it’s really hard so I feel accomplished after.

Ross: I’ve tried a lot of different sports because I’ve only done gymnastics since I was 3, so I never did any other sports growing up. I tried beach volleyball, tried tennis. My siblings laughed at me. I have no hand-eye coordination. I would just swing under the ball and it was so embarrassing.

But one of the sports that I’ve actually enjoyed a lot is going to the driving range and golfing. Golfing was one of the only things open in California during quarantine and my boyfriend, he enjoys being out with his friends, so he took me out a few times and I actually have found that I’m not terrible. I’m not going to say I’m good, but I’m not terrible.

Then also, I’ve tried to run sometimes, which before I could never even run a mile. No joke. Even at my top shape going to the Olympics, I couldn’t even run a mile. I think the longest I’ve ran is four miles, so I was really proud that I was able to run. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot, but for a gymnast that is.

Nichols: I’m right there with her, I can’t run either.

I actually got to golf too a little bit. My boyfriend also likes to play golf. He’s taken me out a few times too, but I’m kind of the laughingstock, I’m not good.

Ross: I think it’s very technical like gymnastics, so I think that’s what draws me in.

Nichols: Definitely. You have to have the right form in order to be able to hit the ball the right way. I think maybe that’s why we like it.

Do you think you’ll need to find something to fill that competitive void?

Nichols: I think definitely. We have that competitive blood in us just from gymnastics. With cycling, in each class they rank you from number one to last, so I’m always competing to get in the top three. I think that competitiveness will always be with us and we’ll always be trying different sports or different things in the future.

Ross: Yeah, like Maggie said, the competitiveness of gymnastics is one of the best parts. I think trying to find that outlet in hobbies or sports is something that I’m looking forward to a lot.

What has gymnastics meant to you?

Nichols: I could talk forever about gymnastics, but I think in short, gymnastics has taught me so many incredible lessons that will go into the future and help me be successful. It taught me time management, how to work hard, how to strive for something and not stop until you get there. But gymnastics has so many obstacles, struggles, whether that’s injuries or skills or competitions, there’s so many different things that teach you so many incredible lessons that I think that I can bring into the professional field. Gymnastics is such a beautiful sport and I think it’s made me the person and woman I am today.

Ross: I definitely agree, there’s so many lessons you can get out of the sport of gymnastics and for me, I think just setting a goal and doing everything you need to do to reach that goal. Also, the team aspect, I think just learning how to work together collectively and reach a goal as a team is something that’s important to bring into your future work.

What do you think is one another’s legacy in gymnastics?

Nichols: I think Kyla has so many legacies she’s leaving behind. I think Kyla was definitely an inspiration to so many gymnasts. You could always tell that she had a goal in mind and she was going to achieve it. You could tell in her gymnastics, it was near perfection, so I think that Kyla was definitely an inspiration for all the hard work and dedication that she put into the gym and you could tell that she was such a great teammate and such a positive person and someone that her teammates went to. I think that Kyla was definitely someone who left a legacy of hard work and someone who was a great person and teammate.

Ross: Aw, thank you. For Maggie, I think her legacy is bravery. Being “Athlete A,” and coming forward, I think is an inspiration to so many and to myself. I think bravery is something that’s high up there. Also, your perseverance, having so many injuries throughout your career, but always wanting to get back to the sport that you loved, I think is something that a lot of little girls can take and find inspiration in that.

Welcome to the PHT Morning Skate, a collection of links from the NHL and around the hockey world. Have a link you want to submit for the PHT Morning Skate? Email us at phtblog@nbcsports.

• The CHL has canceled the Memorial Cup for the second straight year due to COVID-19. [Sportsnet]

• For his first trade deadline as Penguins GM, Ron Hextall did pretty, pretty good. [Pensburgh]

• There’s a chance that Tuukka Rask returns to the Bruins’ crease Thursday vs. the Islanders. [CBS Sports Boston]

• On the Wild’s trade deadline approach: “Given a choice to get better now or better in the future, Guerin chose neither. Being in a holding pattern doesn’t doom them to mediocrity for good, but it does mean they reside in the mushy middle for another few months, at least.” [Zone Coverage]

• The Alex Iafallo re-signing shows that the Kings are building a contender. [The Hockey News]

• A Carey Price return would do wonders for the Habs’ confidence. [The Hockey Writers]

• Will a move to Montreal revitalize Erik Gustafsson? [Habs Eyes on the Prize]

• Interesting look at the importance of the neutral zone. [Gotham Sports Network]

• How does the North Division stack up post-deadline? [Oilers Nation]

More NHL news

Bishop, Eichel, Radulov ruled out for remainder of 2020-21 NHL season

NHL on NBCSN: Confidence in roster led to quiet deadline for Blues

Building Taylor Hall’s confidence will be a work in progress for Bruins

————

Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy

Fresh off his trade to the Penguins, Jeff Carter reminisced with Sidney Crosby about their classic battles in rivalry games back when he broke into the NHL with Philadelphia.

Now Carter can’t wait to play against the Flyers, but not because he harbors some ill will a decade after they traded him. They’re just something different.

“The schedule’s been crazy, right?” Carter said. “I feel like I’ve played Anaheim and Vegas the whole year, so it’ll be nice. Kind of refreshing.”

Beats the same old, same old for 56 games. This unique NHL season with all divisional play gives a vast majority of players traded at the deadline an added perk: A new set of opponents for the remainder of the season.

After months of worrying only about the six other Canadian teams and not caring much about the rest of the league, Sam Bennett will get to play against six Central Division opponents after Calgary dealt him to Florida. Carter can refamiliarize himself with the East Coast. And Anthony Mantha gets to bang bodies with the Islanders, Penguins and Bruins he hasn’t seen in more than a year after joining the Washington Capitals.

“In the years prior I played against all those guys: Pittsburgh or New York or Boston,” Mantha said before making his Capitals debut Tuesday night against Philadelphia. “It’s going to be exciting, obviously, seeing new faces out there. A lot of trades that happened in the last couple days, so you see new bodies in new places and it’s going to be all fun from here.”

More NHL news

Bishop, Eichel, Radulov ruled out for remainder of 2020-21 NHL season

NHL on NBCSN: Confidence in roster led to quiet deadline for Blues

Building Taylor Hall’s confidence will be a work in progress for Bruins

More fun for the players traded to a new division than those stuck in the same one. Apologies to Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac who went from the Devils to the Islanders; Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar from the Sabres to the Bruins; David Savard from the Blue Jackets to the Lightning; and Michael Raffl from the Flyers to the Capitals.

Hall and Lazar have the weirdest boomerang effect with Boston. They’ll face their former team six times over the final month of the season, including a three-game stint at Buffalo next week.

“That fits in just with how this season’s been going,” Lazar said. “It’s been strange in all aspects.”

It was strange for Sami Vatanen to go from New Jersey to Dallas and play immediately for the Stars after getting claimed off waivers. But the veteran defenseman said, “It’s nice to change it up and have some new challenges there.”

Then there’s the challenge of each player getting to know his new teammates after not facing them at all this season, given the schedule. Just as Carter hasn’t watched a lot of Penguins games, Bennett doesn’t have a good grip on how good a team he’s joining in Florida.

“Because we’re so segregated, really I’ve only been paying attention to the North Division,” Bennett said. “I haven’t been able to watch or follow along that closely.”

There are, of course, reputations, and Carter knows a team led by Crosby and Evgeni Malkin plays at a high level. And the Penguins won the Stanley Cup three times sandwiched around Carter’s two championships.

Pittsburgh also has another difference Carter is looking forward to after playing in an empty Staples Center in Los Angeles: some people in the seats cheering for the home team.

“It’ll be nice to have some fans in the stands,” he said. “We haven’t had any in L.A., so that’ll be nice to get some fans behind you.”

United States women’s national team manager Vlatko Andonovski said he feels that forward Alex Morgan is regaining her sharpness after watching her score one goal and win a penalty in the Americans’ 2-0 win over France.

– Missed the match on ESPN2? Stream the replay (U.S. only)
– Futbol Americas on ESPN+: MLS, Liga MX, USMNT, USWNT, more
– ESPN+ viewer’s guide: Bundesliga, Serie A, MLS, FA Cup and more

The match was billed as a massive test for the top-ranked U.S. side, given that France was ranked third in the latest FIFA rankings and was coming off a 3-1 win over six-ranked England. But the U.S. took control early, as Morgan was fouled in the box by French defender Aissatou Tounkara in the fourth minute, with Megan Rapinoe putting home the ensuing penalty.

Morgan then doubled the U.S. advantage in the 19th minute, taking a feed from Christen Press and firing past France keeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin.

From there the U.S. was firmly in control and kept France at bay for the remainder of the match. And it wasn’t just Morgan’s goals that impressed Andonovski.

“Today as a starter, I think that she executed her role very well,” he said about Morgan. “Besides the direct impact with the [penalty] and a goal, she was also very involved in our build-up. She was able to hold the ball, bring the midfielders into the game, and release pressure for us.”

Morgan was sidelined earlier this year with a bout of COVID-19, and gave birth to her daughter Charlie last year. But Andonovski sensed that Morgan had turned the corner in terms of regaining sharpness and fitness over the last month.

“Obviously we don’t just analyze every game but every practice, and in the last couple of practices, it’s almost like she bumped it [up] a notch, was just a little more focused, a little more concentrated,” he said. “And we, as a staff, we were talking about how she got the killer instinct back. With just a little space and time she was scoring goals which was very encouraging for us, and she showed it in the game tonight.”

Morgan returned for the U.S. during the SheBelieves Cup in February, but the key was getting a full preseason in with club side Orlando Pride.

“I was really looking forward to this camp in general because preseason with Orlando went really well,” she said. “I felt like I was able to gain that couple percentage [points] that I was just lacking as I was coming back from pregnancy, so I felt like really good going into this camp. I was really happy to get minutes and both games, and I felt like, tonight we had a good showing. And it’s always nice to get on the scoresheet against France, it makes it that much more special.”

Andonovski, who ran his record as U.S. women’s manager to 17-0-1, was also pleased with the entire team performance, in which the U.S. looked sharper than Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Sweden.

“This team is the best when they’re getting tested, and I thought that this is a great test for us to see how quick we can adapt from the game against Sweden to this game,” he said.

He added, “One of those things was I said that we were not patient enough and we were not clean enough in the last game, which in this game, we did a pretty good job.”

J.T. Realmuto sat in limbo this past offseason. A star free agent, at a premium position, he was waiting patiently for his team to show the kind of interest that would be required to bring him back on a new deal.

The winter’s new darling team, the New York Mets, was dangling an offer to go to the Big Apple and be part of a new era of winning under new owner Steve Cohen. But Dec. 11, 2020, changed everything — for Realmuto and seemingly the entire Phillies organization.

That’s the day the Philadelphia Phillies hired Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations.

“I think it did change everything because up to that point, the signal, at least through the media, was the Phillies were going to take a step back and maybe not spend as much,” Realmuto said recently. “Once they hired Dave, it was pretty apparent they were going to try to win this year and for a period of time. He’s not the type of guy you bring in if you’re going to rebuild.”

The Phillies are no stranger to big winter splashes, having signed Bryce Harper in 2019, then hiring Joe Girardi as manager before the 2020 season — but it was the addition of Dombrowski that shifted the focus entirely to winning.

“His track record is winning and putting together good teams,” Girardi said. “Go back to Montreal, then Florida, then it continued in Detroit and Boston. He’s been doing this a long time. I felt we were serious last year, but with him, you just know.”

It’s too early to know the full impact Dombrowski will have on the organization, but the Phillies have a surprise spot atop the ultra-competitive NL East even while being tested by the schedule makers from the start.

“It’s great,” Dombrowski said in a spring interview. “That’s what the game is all about. You better be ready from Day 1. We open with the Braves and Mets for 13 straight games.”

After a controversial finish to a dramatic weekend series with the Braves, Dombrowski will face off against an old colleague in Mets president Sandy Alderson when the two teams meet Tuesday night (Phillies-Mets, 7 ET on ESPN). They haven’t really gone head-to-head as men in charge … until now.

“I had talked to him before he came to the Phillies while he was still in Nashville and working for that group,” Alderson said in a phone interview. “Based on that conversation, I was surprised he chose to jump back in. On the other hand, Dave’s a competitor and probably didn’t like being on the sidelines.”

One NL executive noted the shift in philosophy by Phillies owner John Middleton after hiring first-time general manager Matt Klentak and first-time manager Gabe Kapler in recent years. He switched directions and went with proven winners, wooing Dombrowski from an MLB expansion project in Nashville.

Dombrowski does want to clarify some of the win-now reputation that Realmuto and Harper were among those to express publicly when he was hired.

“It’s a compliment,” the 64-year-old executive said. “But I think it’s a little unfair because I pride myself in building good organizations, too.”

Dombrowski is referencing the idea that he only sees the short term, meaning his propensity to move prospects. He reeled off his years in the business when that simply wasn’t true. In 1988 and 1990, the Montreal Expos, under Dombrowski, were named organization of the year. In Detroit, Dombrowski points out, the Tigers broke in young players like Justin Verlander, Curtis Granderson and Joel Zumaya.

“And in Florida, we built it up, tore it down, then built it back up again,” Dombrowski said.

Then came Boston, where the narrative was he traded prospects, spent too much and was shown the door — just 11 months after winning the World Series there.

“When I went to Boston, they had the foundation to win, but we didn’t have enough starting pitchers to win,” Dombrowski said. “If you have a chance to win, sometimes you do things right then to win and then pay the price for the future.”

It turns out, Dombrowski’s price was his own future. Fast forward to Philadelphia, where no one is going to complain if their new man in charge goes for it.

“Every player wants to play for an organization that wants to win every year,” Realmuto said. “That’s part of the problem with baseball. There are too many teams that aren’t trying to win. It makes it easier to put on your uniform every day. I know Dave wants to win.”

Harper added: “The city of Philadelphia is craving some playoffs and a World Series. We’re feeding off that as well. We’re trying to find out our identity here and what kind of team we can be.”

For starters, an identity change could come from a revamped bullpen. Historically bad in 2020 — the Phillies’ bullpen had a 7.06 ERA — it is much better so far this year, sporting a 3.73 ERA in the very early going. From newcomers, including veterans Archie Bradley and Brandon Kintzler and young flamethrower Jose Alvarado, there’s a new attitude developing in the bullpen.

“It’s slowly getting there,” Kintzler said. “We’re not there yet. We’re still searching for that identity. We want the middle innings to be locked down.”

If they needed any more motivation, they can take a glance at the preseason prognostications. PECOTA gives the Phillies a 7% chance of winning the division. FiveThirtyEight picks them for third place. And just two ESPN voters out of 27 picked them to finish this season where they are right now — in first place.

“Don’t sleep on the Phillies,” Realmuto said simply. “We have more depth than we’ve had in the past.”

They also have a new culture thanks to a longtime executive who still regrets not winning a championship for former Tigers owner Mike Ilitch. Dombrowski doesn’t want the same fate for players like Harper and Realmuto.

“Sometimes I’ll listen to a broadcast and you can’t believe the number of great players that have never won a World Series,” he said. “It’s wrong place at the wrong time for some players. Look at the Indians. So many chances to win, but it’s so hard.

“You do start thinking, it would be great for that guy to realize winning. From a pro experience, there’s no emotion that comes with it when you win a world championship.”

It’s one of the things that sold Realmuto on coming back. He eventually inked a five-year, $115 million deal to stay in Philadelphia, in part because there was no question of Dombrowski’s motives.

“We had dinner around Christmas in Oklahoma,” Realmuto recalled. “He sold us his vision. Reassuring us the Phillies were not taking a step back. So far, he’s proven that out.”

On paper a ninth place finish for rookie Yuki Tsunoda represented a solid if unspectacular start to the season for the Italian team. However, it was the pace that the AT02 showed on Saturday that really caught the attention of rivals.

Tsunoda sailed through Q1 in second after a lap that McLaren boss Andreas Seidl called “a bit of a shocker,” so impressive was it to the other midfield runners.

Indeed that form encouraged AlphaTauri to take a punt on the medium tyre for Q2, something that wouldn’t normally be on the team’s agenda. Pierre Gasly made it through in eighth place, but Tsunoda – caught out by the change of compound mid-session – had to settle for 13th.

Back on the softs for Q3, Gasly then secured fifth spot on the grid, behind only Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Charles Leclerc.

Alas it went wrong for the Frenchman in the race when wiped his front wing off in contact with Daniel Ricciardo. Meanwhile Tsunoda lost places after what he admitted was an over-cautious first F1 start. His subsequent strong recovery, which saw him take ninth from Lance Stroll on the last lap, gave some indication of the wasted potential.

Bahrain was a sample of one but that qualifying speed indicated that AlphaTauri has got its act together in 2021.

Don’t forget that last year’s car was capable of winning a race, so perhaps it should not be such a big surprise that a carefully refined version, with a boost provided by Honda’s latest power unit, is an even more competitive package.

“It’s a combination of many things,” says technical director Jody Egginton.

“Last year we thought we had a good car but we were not typically in a situation where we’d be saying, should we see if we can sneak through [Q2] on the harder tyre?

“The numbers said it could work. And I think that’s a sign that the car is working well. Everyone’s pushing hard to develop the car, the power unit has come along, the chassis has come along.

“A lot of young engineers in the team have been quietly growing over the last two, three years. Their confidence is improving, and we’ve got a really good direction.

“Plus Yuki has come in and he is a talented guy, and Pierre’s comfortable in the team and providing fantastic input. And it’s all coming together.

“I can’t stress enough that the engineering team, the design team and the aero team, they are all maturing, we’re sort of getting our identity and working together and building methodologies and philosophies.

“I guess that’s one of the outcomes when the car improves, you have this newfound freedom to think, ‘Well, actually, we can take that tyre into the race.’”

Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT02, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M, and Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Continuity is always beneficial, and while some of its immediate rivals have undergone disruptive changes of identity, management or power unit supplier, or have had to rein spending in to meet the budget cap, AlphaTauri has quietly built on what it has.

The team even opted to stick with its proven rear end rather than take an upgrade to RBR’s 2020 gearbox, which the rules allowed. The senior team’s handling struggles last year were a red flag.

The one major novelty has been a switch from a 50% to 60% wind tunnel – as the last team to move to the bigger scale model. That created a lot of extra work over the winter, but the change should reap dividends. It’s one step back to take two forward.

Egginton believes that the team coped well with adapting to the change of tunnel and made good progress into the first track running of the AT02.

“Our programme was just to really systematically learn our car,” he explains. “We spent a lot of time gathering aero data, because this car was developed in our 50% wind tunnel, and we’ve since moved to the 60% wind tunnel.

“There’s a lot of correlation to be done. We’re now developing the car in a different wind tunnel. It was born in one place, and now it gets developed in another place.

“There’s a lot of aero work, and just trying to understand correlation, and also what the differences were due to the regulation change. Also what Yuki wanted from the car.

“And then obviously, the new Honda PU, running through all the checks and understanding that it delivered what we expected, and was working as we expected.

“In the period between the test and the race we’ve gone away and just basically gone through everything.”

Having established a solid baseline with a strong testing performance the team honed the car for the Bahrain race weekend, while also planning further ahead.

It helped enormously that the team had a productive test, while some rivals had a lot of firefighting to do. Gasly actually completed more laps than any other driver.

“We’ve already got developments in the pipeline,” says Egginton. “With the things we’re planning to bring the aero data from the test validated whether that was the right way to go, and we were just building up knowledge of the behaviour of the car.

“And then we brought a car [to the race] with certain differences, a few small developments, and just a continuation. Fortunately, we left the test with what seemed to be a pretty reasonable car.

“And we’ve just gone away and gone what are the weaknesses? What can we do about that? What can we do and where were other people? Where do we think they were running their power unit? Because everyone had very diverse programmes in testing.

“So we spent a lot of time looking for all of that. But we just quietly got on with our thing. It was clear that we were in the mix and [it was] don’t let ourselves get distracted too much, focus on ourselves, because we’re in charge of what we’re doing.”

 

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

The aerodynamic rule changes for 2021 are the key to everyone’s performance, and AlphaTauri’s switch of tunnel scale gave an extra focus to that process.

“The floors have changed dramatically because of the regulation change,” says Egginton. “And the diffuser and the way the car works aerodynamically at the rear. Everyone was trying to recover load, and we recovered a reasonable chunk.

“Now we’re trying to give the car a wider operating window aerodynamically to work in. Especially in low speed, and then the driver can exploit that, and we’ll go quicker.

“I think we’ve got a good view on what the car is and then that allows you to say, what do you want to target? So, it is aero development, it is exploiting more performance from the areas of the car which had been affected by the regulation changes, and making sure that the changes, as we develop, we don’t upset something else.

“It’s just rolling development. We’ll have some new bits in Imola, we’ll have some new bits in Portugal, we’ll have some new bits in Spain. So it’s incremental. There are no headline grabbers. But by Spain, we should have a nice step forward.”

Mention of the upcoming run of circuits highlights one of the issues that the team suffered from last year – inconsistency. The key goal is to maintain the Bahrain qualifying performance at a range of different venues.

“Last year, we were in that mix,” says Egginton. “But the variance in our performance across the midfield was a bit greater than we wanted. Some weekends we had the car working really well, other weekends we struggled a little bit.

“The second half of the year that variance reduced. There were certain things we did to try and do that. And then this year – again, it’s a sample of one – it appears we’re back in that mix, with a rookie driver as well.

“So it looks like whatever we’re doing, it’s allowing him to get into it quickly. We probably need to see the next couple of races, and then form a view, are we more consistent?

“I was happy with the pace of the car last year, but there were a couple of events where it performed really well, and a couple of events where we went home a bit sad.

“We want to try and minimise that and you’ve got to do it in the midfield, because it’s so tight. Everyone’s stealing points off everyone, and you can’t afford to drop points.”

Gasly can be a reference for Tsunoda

The drivers are the final part of the equation, and it’s evident that AlphaTauri has put together an intriguing combination.

Apart from his half season with RBR in 2019 Gasly has been with the team since October 2017, again contributing to that priceless continuity. His confidence is sky high after last year, and instead of fretting about no longer being in the Red Bull, he’s thriving in his current environment.

“He is good because he’s got the reference to last year,” says Egginton. “This year’s car is an evolution of last year’s car and he knows how last year’s car performed, as do his engineering crew, and that helps Yuki if he’s struggling with something. He has a reference.

“Pierre is able to tell us in detail what’s changed, what’s better, what’s worse, so that’s good. And then that combined with the correlation, it helps us potentially answer some of the questions Yuki might have.”

George Russell, Williams FW43B, and Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT02

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Tsunoda meanwhile is bringing a buzz and excitement to the camp. The team knows it has someone who is determined to make his mark, and will go for it in all circumstances.

“He’s on a very steep learning curve as any young driver is coming into the F1 world,” Egginton says of the rookie.

“He’s taking it step-by-step. He’s absorbing a lot of information. And he’s communicating well, and we’re understanding what he wants from the car. And he’s working well with the engineering team.

“AlphaTauri/Toro Rosso has got a history of working with young drivers. And without being big-headed, the team’s good at working with young drivers. I think it’s fair to say that the record of the drivers that have been through the team highlights that the engineers are good.

“We’re going to have ups and downs, but he’s delivering, and I think that’s important, because we’re firmly in the midfield it appears. And he’s got Pierre to learn from.”

The team is now preparing for its home race at Imola, a venue Tsunoda knows well from testing, and where Gasly qualified an impressive fourth just a few months ago. Will a second sample give a true indication of the AT02’s potential?

Året var 2012 när svenska Dota 2-legendaren Jonathan ”Loda” Berg precis hade spelat The International i Seattle och han träffade Alex Garfield – som ville finansiera ett nytt Dota-projekt.

Där föddes idén till det som den 12 april 2013 skulle presenteras som Alliance. 

– Jag fick bygga ett lag på sättet jag ville och hade rätt fria tyglar, berättar Loda på åttaårsdagen.

Målet var att bygga upp ett nytt svenskt storlag. 

I augusti samma år vann de e-sportens största turnering The International och året därpå köptes stjärnlagets organisation upp av Amazon-ägda Twitch.

Två år senare blev det ett svenskt bolag som de drev och ägde själva

– Man kan säga att det var då det nya Alliance påbörjades, säger Loda.

– Det har varit en lång och intressant resa, framför allt att gå från spelare till att i dag vara mer management. Det är väl sånt man tänker på nu när det är födelsedagen.

”Fastnade för det”

När resan började hade Loda inga tankar på att det skulle bli en sån stor del av hans liv som det är i dag, då han är vd för organisationen. Han hade tidigare inte haft någon intention binda sig till en plats för länge. 

– Men någonstans under tiden fastnade jag för det. Jag kunde nog aldrig förvänta mig detta, men det var nog 2017 som jag bestämde att ”nu stannar jag med Alliance” och ger det mitt allt.

Det var något speciellt med Alliance alltså?

– Ja exakt, jag har också blivit charmad av vårt brand på nåt sätt. Nu kan jag inte släppa taget, jag känner ett stort ansvar helt klart.

Alliance är framför allt synonymt med Dota 2-laget – som är ett av sex lag som bär den grönvita loggan i dag – och har imponerat under årets DPC-säsong. 

Men under majorn i Singapore gick det desto tyngre för laget, som enligt Loda inte nådde sin högsta nivå och hade svårt att hålla sig till de strategier som hade lagts fram.

– Jag känner fortfarande att vi utan tvekan kan vara topp två i Europa och kan med rätt fokus också bli bäst. Men det krävs att man lägger ner jobbet, så det var ett wake-up call för oss alla att vi måste tro mer på processen.

Valorant och Wild Rift

Svenska organisationen har i år expanderat till två nya spel av utvecklaren Riot Games. Dels CS-utmanaren Valorant och League of Legends mobilversion Wild Rift.

Loda är positiv till starten för Valorant-laget, som värvades ihop av general manager James Banks. Till skillnad från flera andra stora organisationer som satsade på stjärnnamn så var Alliances fokus att bygga frångrunden ”på rätt sätt”.

– Jag tror också mycket på Valorant, inte minst på grund av Riot men även allt det positiva de gör kring det. 

Han tror också att mobilspel som Wild Rift kommer ha en stor framtid inom e-sportscenen.

– Mobilspel har en nästan oändlig potential. I västvärlden är inte mobilspel riktigt lika stort än, men kollar du på Asien, Afrika och Sydamerika så är det många som inte växer upp med en dator och kanske inte får en till vuxen ålder. Men alla har mobiler, och de här spelen är gigantiska.

Nu när Alliance fyller åtta år, hur tror du Alliance kommer se ut om ytterligare åtta år?

– Oj… vad blir det, 2029… 

– Jag tror ju vi kommer vara ett topplag inom Europa, men vi kommer också fokusera mycket på att vara en vital del i att bygga stjärnor och professionalitet inom e-sport. Det är något jag brinner för och som jag tycker saknas dels i Sverige och även till viss del Europa. Spontant hade jag velat se mer arbete med att utveckla ungdomar till proffs. Det brinner jag för, att hjälpa människor nå sina drömmar.

I år ligger ett stort fokus på The International i Stockholm för Dota 2-laget. Loda lovar också att organisationen har mycket annat på gång under året.

Alliance vill bland annat utveckla sitt content- och streamernätverk för att skapa värde för sina fans och inspireras till viss del av de stora contenthusen i USA.

– Vi har alltid lite roliga grejer på G, säger han.

Följ SportExpressen E-sport på Facebook och Twitter!

PINE BLUFF, Ark. — How about this for perfection by North Texas softball pitcher Hope Trautwein: 21 batters faced, 21 strikeouts.

Trautwein threw the perfect game Sunday, striking out all 21 Arkansas-Pine Bluff batters she faced in a 3-0 victory.

It was the first perfect game in North Texas history and is believed to be the first perfect seven-inning game in NCAA Division I history with every out being a strikeout.

NCAA records list two other pitchers with 21 strikeouts in a seven-inning game, but neither of those was a perfect game. Alabama’s Alexis Osorio had a 21-K game against Fordham in 2018, and California’s Michele Granger did it against Creighton in 1991.

Trautwein, a senior from Pflugerville, Texas, also had 21 strikeouts in a seven-inning game in her first start this season. But the right-hander also gave up five hits and two runs in a 6-2 win against Southeastern Louisiana on Feb. 13.

The NCAA single-game record for strikeouts is 28, by Northwestern’s Eileen Canney in an 18-inning game against Minnesota in 2006, and Baylor’s Cristin Vitek in 16 innings against North Carolina in 2004.