The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers - General Discussion

[absnow54]

The finale was great. They tapped into all the Mighty Ducks archetypes there. I didn’t even mind that all the D2 Ducks didn’t have OG uniforms, even though Tyler, Gafney, and Wu (and possibly more that I missed) were all out on the ice. It will be interesting how the team dynamics change next season. I’m sure they’ll have some of the no-longer-Ducks trying to join their team. Hope they do a season 2!

[SnoGirl]

Okay Ducks you totally got me crying big ole nostalgic Millennial tears. They totally landed that season finale. Forfeiting for Sophie and then still playing anyways with a bet on top of it?? Perfect. The surprise new Jersey in the locker room I totally didn’t even see coming?? Made me cry more. Sophie was totally wearing Banks’ jersey while Morrow was in Charlie’s?? Ugh, I love it.

I teach this age group, and man do I wish ever outcast, geeky, loner kid could find their group like this. And that parents would watch this to help put the fun back into child sports’ leagues. I loved that I could actually recognize parent’s in the stand.

Was that Stephanie’s son as the goalie who went “No way?” when the team came in with the new jerseys? I really like Stephanie and Alex as friends so it would be interesting if next season her twins want to jump teams to the New Ducks. It would be cool if Alex could get more parents to cool off on child sports like Sophie’s parents.

Love the slow burn with Alex and Bombay. I liked that they didn’t have the “kiss” moment when they won.

All in all, I hope we get another season but if not, this was perfect.

[LisaM]

Loved the finale. Really well done. The kids are great. Enjoyed seeing Stephanie being dragged over from the dark side. Also great that Sofi's parents valued her knee over her playing in the finals. The moment that Koob saw his parents finally show up to a match was awesome. 

I hope the show is renewed. Seeing all of these kids find a home together was very inspiring. 

 

 

[twoods]

I also loved it and definitely shed a tear when they all forfeited together for Sophie. Also with her parents picking her health over winning. I hope this show is back next year because these kids were awesome and I want to see what happens with Alex and Gordon. 

[norcalgal]

On 5/28/2021 at 2:24 PM, SnoGirl said:

Okay Ducks you totally got me crying big ole nostalgic Millennial tears. They totally landed that season finale. Forfeiting for Sophie and then still playing anyways with a bet on top of it?? Perfect. The surprise new Jersey in the locker room I totally didn’t even see coming?? Made me cry more. Sophie was totally wearing Banks’ jersey while Morrow was in Charlie’s?? Ugh, I love it.

I teach this age group, and man do I wish ever outcast, geeky, loner kid could find their group like this. And that parents would watch this to help put the fun back into child sports’ leagues. I loved that I could actually recognize parent’s in the stand.

Was that Stephanie’s son as the goalie who went “No way?” when the team came in with the new jerseys? I really like Stephanie and Alex as friends so it would be interesting if next season her twins want to jump teams to the New Ducks. It would be cool if Alex could get more parents to cool off on child sports like Sophie’s parents.

Love the slow burn with Alex and Bombay. I liked that they didn’t have the “kiss” moment when they won.

All in all, I hope we get another season but if not, this was perfect.

Loved the “new” OG Ducks jerseys!  And it made sense that  Sofi = Banks jersey since both are the best player on their team; and Evan = Charlie jersey since both are the captain EXCEPT while I felt Charlie was the heart and soul of movie Ducks, in this series, that role is occupied by Nick

Just perfect!

I really hope they ditch the Alex/Bombay romance (romantic vibes). Not only is it a cliche, imo, they don’t have that kind of chemistry. 

My favorite part of the final was when each kid stated why they had already “won”. And it’s true - these misfits found a home/family with each other so that is indeed a bigger “win” than the actual trophy. Well done!

 

[snickers]

the person i watch this with threw their arms up and said, "What did i say?" when Bombay said they are betting for the name back

 

count me in for wanting a season 2!!!!!!! it has to happen!!!!!!

[Zach J]

I grew up watching Emilio Estevez coaching the Mighty Ducks. I loved every movie. As a child, I wished I could have been part of the team. When the new season came out on Disney, I was skeptical and did not think it would live up to the Duck franchise but figured it would be okay to watch. 
 

Let me say this. The show breaks away from a predictable ending. It has trinkets of Easter eggs. It is noble. It is exciting. It makes me so ecstatic to see this show address many issues in adolescent sports while engaging the audience with an interesting storyline. They really show the “winning isn’t everything mentality” while still maintaining the thrill of hockey, a captivating movie franchise, friend cliques, and the pressures of sport parenting. 
 

I was blown away by this series and feel it does justice to the Duck movie franchise. If you subscribe to DisneyPlus, please watch this. Much love to the Ducks, the actors and actresses who became such a part of many children’s childhoods, and to the crew who put this together. 

[bettername2come]

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It definitely inspired many of the same feelings as the original, without feeling too copycat. Yeah, I'm willing to handwave the D2 ducks having green jerseys as gifts or something later or maybe after the Eden Hall team had to change their name. Coach of the jerk Ducks in this series always makes me think he's supposed to have been in the original series. I keep thinking he looks like he could be Guy and Fulton's little brother. I genuinely thought he was Guy when we first saw him.  Maya and Laura's friendship was a nice, fun surprise, Nick is a total sweetheart, Evan is a great successor to Charlie, Logan was an interesting character and I'm glad he got to be good at hockey, and I'm glad Koob's parents went to States and that he got to absolutely rock the national anthem. I loved the team refusing to let Sophie play hurt. I would say the quality is on-par with the Cobra Kai series in terms of nostalgia continuations.

And part of me can't help but think Lorelai Gilmore would be absolutely stoked to team up with Emilio Estevez, so that's an added bonus for me. 

[nomodrama]

The Ducks movies were a huge part of my growing up, my siblings and I loved them. They pretty much started my love of hockey and my still huge crush on Joshua Jackson (who has only gotten better as he's gotten older!). 

All three of my kids play hockey in So Cal, so any hockey movies are a great hit and unsurprisingly the Ducks movies are their favorites, they will literally watch them over and over. My daughter actually spent the last year playing for the Lady Ducks team in Anaheim which is the all girls branch of the Ducks youth hockey organization.  We don't live very close to the Rinks in Anaheim and are huge LA fans (the Ducks are our mortal enemies), but the nostalgia really made it all worth it. And I now have a Ducks jersey, although not an actual Mighty Ducks one, with our last name on it to treasure forever. :)

This was must see TV in our house and the kids were pretty much counting down every week to watch it. They are getting old enough that they had a lot to say about the actual hockey aspect of the show. Lots of groans about the playing and how none of that would actually be allowed on the ice in real games, but thats the Mighty Ducks shtick and we love it anyways. 

I agree with everyone that Nick was the all-round best kid actor and had the sweetest character, he had the best lines most episodes. Hopefully he has a long career ahead of him. 

Watching Alex really gave me a lot of feels. I often see club sports bring out the worst in people (I've not yet seen someone show up to a tryout with their kids various side coaches, but I've seen/heard some other very disappointing stuff).  Her idea of bringing back the fun is a great one though very idealistic. Unfortunately, I think it's a small percentage of parents that will gladly dish out the kind of money required for hockey for their kids to just have fun....its a good thing the Don't Bothers turned out to be so good!

The actor that plays Coach T also plays a hockey player on a Canadien show called LetterKenny (aimed at a much different audience), so it was fun seeing him pop up on a Disney show!

[norcalgal]

16 hours ago, nomodrama said:

The actor that plays Coach T also plays a hockey player on a Canadien show called LetterKenny (aimed at a much different audience), so it was fun seeing him pop up on a Disney show!

He was interviewed on the NHL Network a while ago, when the show was about 1-3 weeks old.  He has a background in hockey  (it shows in his skating) and his family was involved in the NHL in some capacity.  I don't recall too much else about his interview.

[BetterButter]

‘Mighty Ducks’ Renewed for Season 2 at Disney+

[LisaM]

Thrilled!

[jewel21]

Yay, I'm so happy about this!

[BetterButter]

Emilio Estevez Not Returning To ‘The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers’ For Season 2

[absnow54]

5 hours ago, BetterButter said:

Emilio Estevez Not Returning To ‘The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers’ For Season 2

This is where Disney needs to start shoveling lots of money in Joshua Jackson’s direction. Or maybe Fulton Reed or Averman can take his place. 

[Artsda]

Seeing one of the original Ducks fill in would be great.

[norcalgal]

15 hours ago, absnow54 said:

This is where Disney needs to start shoveling lots of money in Joshua Jackson’s direction. Or maybe Fulton Reed or Averman can take his place. 

Charlie was the heart and soul of the OG Ducks. He radiated "future hockey coach" so I can totally see him returning to Game Changers as the new co-coach with Lauren Graham's character.  I don't know how open Joshua Jackson is to a return to tv though...

 

 

[Sakura12]

He's only been doing TV. I think it depends on how his new show does, Dr.  Death. That was the reason he couldn't join the rest when they returned. 

[absnow54]

Dr Death was a miniseries. The main hurdle is that he’s always seemed pretty dismissive of ever revisiting the franchise. 

[Spencer Hastings]

I’d love to be wrong about this, but there’s no way Joshua Jackson returns for more than an episode or two.  He has a lot going on already, he’s been working steadily since D3 wrapped. Disney would have to work out a heck of a deal with lots of money to make it worth his while. I don’t think he’s as attached to this film as we are. 

That being said, I’d love to see any of the original Ducks take over.  Elden Henson (Fulton) has always said that he’s absolutely indebted to this franchise and would do anything they ask of him. Matt Doherty (Averman) also seems to love being involved with the franchise as much as he can. He shows up to every reunion, autograph appearance, etc.  They have plenty of options but the execution would need to be stellar.

[absnow54]

Only a handful of the kid actors are strong enough to carry the show. Maybe they can cycle through them every episode. Fulton helps an episode, then Averman, I’m pretty sure Kennan Thompson agreed to appear next season. It can culminate in Charlie showing up for the big game, and then they can close the door on the original Ducks and let the new kids carry the torch.

I’m curious how they’ll handle his exit. Had they already started filming the new season?

[LadyNebula]

Fulton taking over would make sense. He and Charlie were the “true” Ducks in D1 (the only ones to come on to the rink when the rest quit) and D3.  I only hesitate because I wonder if Elden Henson might be busy soon. Potential SPOILER for The Marvel Cinematic Universe:

 

Daredevil is showing up in the new Spider-man movie, and Kingpin is showing up in Hawkeye. If they decide to get the whole Daredevil cast back together to get them in the MCU, Elden will be a bit tied up since he played a major role in the tv show. Of course these are all Disney properties, so who knows?

 

I would just love to see more Elden Henson. I’ve followed his career since the Ducks and he’s done well for himself. 

[Aliconehead]

https://people.com/tv/josh-duhamel-replacing-emilio-estevez-mighty-ducks-game-changers-head-coach/

[absnow54]

I like Josh Duhamel, so this is good news, but I admit, when I saw a press release the other day that Joshua Jackson booked the Fatal Attraction series, I was pretty bummed that it meant he'd be too busy for this.

[norcalgal]

1 hour ago, absnow54 said:

I like Josh Duhamel, so this is good news, but I admit, when I saw a press release the other day that Joshua Jackson booked the Fatal Attraction series, I was pretty bummed that it meant he'd be too busy for this.

Awwww man!  I'm neutral on Josh Duhamel, but I'd love to see Joshua Jackson - whose Charlie was always the heart and soul of the movies.

[Lakebum]

On 4/30/2021 at 5:26 PM, norcalgal said:

 

Aallllll this!  But extra emphasis on the unreal scenario that Connie and Guy "went the distance" as Bombay said. Can anyone think of a real life example of two people hooking up in middle school and still being together 20+ years later?

 

I have friends who started dating in junior high, and got married right after college; that was 1984, and they're still together. (The funny thing was, I knew HER in elementary school. I met HIM in college, when he transferred in after spending his first year at another school. One day the girlfriend he left there came down to visit; she walked in, we both let out a yell, and hugged. He said "You know each other?" and she said "Baby, I've known him for longer than I've known you!"

Back to the show: very enjoyable, when I accept it for what it is. BUT sometimes, the hockey is BAD. Not just "actors pretending to be hockey players" bad, but "have the writers ever actually seen a hockey game?" bad. (That's not a new thing with The Mighty Ducks; the "triple deke" thing from D2 still makes me cringe.) I liked all of the kids, though, and I would watch a second season.

[Lakebum]

On 6/23/2021 at 12:41 PM, norcalgal said:

He was interviewed on the NHL Network a while ago, when the show was about 1-3 weeks old.  He has a background in hockey  (it shows in his skating) and his family was involved in the NHL in some capacity.  I don't recall too much else about his interview.

His dad and his uncle both played in the NHL. His uncle was the more accomplished player (almost 700 games) and his dad has had a long coaching career that is still going on. Dylan (Coach T) also plays a hockey player in the cult comedy series Letterkenny... but you probably shouldn't let your kids watch! :-)

[BetterButter]

[twoods]

Emilio Estevez is definitely missed by looking at the trailer,  but Josh Duhamel looks like a good fit. 

[jewel21]

Season 2 is almost upon us!

Quote

 S02.E01: Ice Breaker

Our Mighty Ducks, along with their coach Alex Morrow, head to an elite summer hockey institute in California, run by charming yet hardcore former NHL player Colin Cole. It’s invitation only, and the talent is next-level great. It’s so great that the Ducks begin to wonder what they are even doing there. But when Coach Cole tells our squad they may not be a good “fit” for his program, they get fired up to prove him wrong — even though a mysterious camper warns them not to stay.

Airdate: 09/28/2022

[absnow54]

I'm too old to be watching this, and completely fueled by nostalgia. I was surprised that they didn't cut Emilio Estevez completely from the recap. They seemed to be editing around him, and then he was featured prominently in the last 20 seconds, so maybe they haven't burned that bridge entirely. It was fun to see the bash brothers together again, even though Aaron Lohr seemed to be confused as to why he was there. Elden Hensen is obviously maintaining good relations with Disney in hopes of getting the Daredevil call.

Otherwise, it was fine. Did they mention what happened to Lauren and Logan? Although, it keeps within the Mighty Ducks tradition of players disappearing and never being spoken of again. I still miss you Jesse Hall!

[norcalgal]

12 hours ago, absnow54 said:

I'm too old to be watching this, and completely fueled by nostalgia. I was surprised that they didn't cut Emilio Estevez completely from the recap. They seemed to be editing around him, and then he was featured prominently in the last 20 seconds, so maybe they haven't burned that bridge entirely. It was fun to see the bash brothers together again, even though Aaron Lohr seemed to be confused as to why he was there. Elden Hensen is obviously maintaining good relations with Disney in hopes of getting the Daredevil call.

Otherwise, it was fine. Did they mention what happened to Lauren and Logan? Although, it keeps within the Mighty Ducks tradition of players disappearing and never being spoken of again. I still miss you Jesse Hall!

If this show gets a third season and can’t get Emilio to return, I know it’s pie in the sky, but I’d like Joshua Jackson (aka Charlie) to be the new coach.  From the movies, you totally saw Charlie as a future coach. 

[Pallida]

I’m really getting tired of Alex not taking this seriously. The kids get invited to an exclusive camp and you think it’s no big deal to show up late? She’s gonna make a great lawyer with that attitude. 

[norcalgal]

14 minutes ago, Pallida said:

I’m really getting tired of Alex not taking this seriously. The kids get invited to an exclusive camp and you think it’s no big deal to show up late? She’s gonna make a great lawyer with that attitude. 

I’m willing to cut her a little slack because:

1) even last season, she prioritized having fun; she never saw hockey as the be all and end all, or thinking anyone got into hockey because they wanted to be a pro hockey player;

2) season two takes place in the summer and again, Alex probably feels summer is the time for kids to relax and just be kids 

Get real, if any kid wanted to go pro, they never would have joined/stayed with Alex’s team or tolerated having Alex as the coach. Because this is a Disney show, these Ducks are allowed literal and metaphorical wins, which wouldn’t happen IRL. 
What I hope doesn’t happen is that Alex has a romance with the male lead. We saw that starting to happen with Emilio’s character and I’ve got a baaaad feeling it might happen with new guy. 

[absnow54]

14 hours ago, norcalgal said:

If this show gets a third season and can’t get Emilio to return, I know it’s pie in the sky, but I’d like Joshua Jackson (aka Charlie) to be the new coach.  From the movies, you totally saw Charlie as a future coach. 

He needs to stop getting steady work! There's no way he'd show up for more than a cameo, he just doesn't seem invested in this franchise at all, like most of the other child actors who were involved. Even Kenan, who has had equivalent (or possibly greater) success, shows up to some of the reunions! 

[twoods]

I don’t know how we are supposed to feel sorry for the Mighty Ducks sucking in the tournament when they don’t practice or train.

Glad that the kids decided to pick Jace as captain, but sad they went the romance route with Alex and Coach Cole. They already had her with Gordon last year. It’s okay to not have the leads get together.

Edited November 10, 2022 by twoods

[bybrandy]

I don’t know how I feel about literally anybody on dominate being like meh I’ll go to the beach I don’t care about the tournament which will set me up to play in front of scouts. 

[norcalgal]

On 11/23/2022 at 11:24 AM, bybrandy said:

I don’t know how I feel about literally anybody on dominate being like meh I’ll go to the beach I don’t care about the tournament which will set me up to play in front of scouts. 

Yep, especially the tall blond guy who competed with Evan to be the captain of Team Dominate. Throughout the season he was portrayed as Next Level in terms of his commitment to hockey, and now is supposed to be “eh, I’ll blow off this Big Game.”  🙄

But that’s Disney for ya…

[WildFlower87]

Cancelled

https://tvline.com/2023/02/17/the-mighty-ducks-cancelled-disney-plus-season-3/

[WorldWarIV]

I'm really disappointed the show was cancelled as I enjoyed season 2. But with no more connection to the original movies, I can see why it was given the axe.

[Lakebum]

I guess since there will be no Season 3 my dream of seeing a Mighty Ducks hockey game scene that looks like it was written by someone who had seen a real hockey game will never come true.

And I guess we'll never know what happened to the players who were on the six teams that did NOT make it to the Camp Championship Game. Were they on lockdown, or spending time in a really big penalty box? I don't think I saw any of them at the banquet, I'm pretty sure none of them were at the lake, and I know that none of them were at the campfire.

Speaking of the campfire scene, of all of the unlikely things that happen in the Mighty Ducks universe, gathering that many 13-year-olds who ALL know all of the words to "Landslide" is the most unlikely.

Who would have thought that the Mighty Duck with the best chance of making it to the NHL would be... Nick? As an announcer, not a player, but still....

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by Lakebum

[jewel21]

I finally was able to binge watch Season 2 yesterday and I really enjoyed it. I didn't feel it was any less strong than the first season. And I was worried it might be due to the lack of Gordon Bombay, but I didn't really miss him at all. 

Marni was a delight and she cracked me up each time she was on screen. 

Nick is still my favourite duck. He reminded me a bit of Dylan O'Brien, for some reason, as I was binging. 

I'm sad there won't be a third season. Like seriously bummed.