Danielle Solzman
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers delivered on bringing the nostalgia in putting together a group of hockey-playing misfits.
The following contains spoilers for the first season finale.
I’ve been writing about the Ducks quite a bit over the past season. This is a series that has brought so much nostalgia. I have to admit that I had some pause when the series was first announced. At the time, we only knew that Lauren Graham and Brady Noon were set to star. And then it happened: they brought back Emilio Estevez to reprise his role as Coach Gordon Bombay. While I’m sure the series would work with just Graham and Noon alone, it would not work without Estevez.
Bringing back some of the original Ducks (I use original lightly because Kenny Wu joined in D2) certainly helped to nail the nostalgia factor. Moreover, I had the opportunity to interview the original Ducks and still can’t believe it! I’m hoping that the showrunners find a way to bring Joshua Jackson back to reprise his role as team captain Charlie Conway. I had tears of joy when I saw his jersey out there on the ice today. Honestly the season finale jumped into one of my favorite episodes of the season, joining “Breakaway” and “Spirit of the Ducks.” The last four episodes have taken us on a journey not just for the team itself but Bombay, too. When “Spirit of the Ducks” ended, Bombay was starting to sound like a coach again. The past four episodes have certainly shown classic Bombay!
This episode brought me so much joy. When Bombay makes that bet, you just know it’s going to come true. I mean, I don’t know how it’s going to happen but it’s going to happen. Even in a sports television series, you almost certainly have to stick with classic tropes. The underdog will always find a way to win. It’s written into the genre of sports films and it’s on brand for The Mighty Ducks franchise. I can’t blame Bombay either, the Don’t Bothers are more representative of the name than the current Ducks. When they beat them during an unofficial game, I was smiling with tears of joy. Obviously, Coach T was upset and to our surprise, Stephanie–a partner at Ducksworth–came through in the end.
Obviously, Game Changers is focusing on this younger generation but once the pandemic ends, I hope they find away to incorporate more former Ducks. I don’t know how they’ll do it because it’ll need to serve the story. You can’t just have someone popping by for cameo’s sake because it just wouldn’t work that way.
The Mighty Ducks are back and I can’t wait to see them play some more hockey!
