The Mighty Ducks (film series)

The Mighty Ducks

After being pulled over for drunk driving, attorney Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) is sentenced to community service, coaching hockey. There, he meets the "District 5" peewee hockey team, perennial losers who finish at the bottom of the league standings year after year. They are shut out every game and lose by at least five goals. The players learn Bombay was once a player for the Hawks, an elite team in the same league, but left hockey because of the embarrassment that followed after a failed attempt at a penalty shot at the end of regulation, causing them to lose in overtime, costing them a peewee championship. With the help of Coach Bombay, and a desperately needed infusion of cash and equipment, the players learn the fundamentals of the sport. Soon enough, the District 5 team (now christened the "Ducks", after Bombay's employer, Gerald Ducksworth) start winning games and manage to make the playoffs, reaching the finals and adding new player Adam Banks, an ex-Hawk who is a talented player and an asset for the Ducks. Bombay faces the Hawks, the team he grew up playing for, still led by Jack Reilly (Lane Smith), the same coach Bombay played for. Fittingly, the Ducks win the title game on a penalty shot by Bombay's protégé, Charlie Conway (Joshua Jackson). The movie was released in the UK, South Africa and Australia as Champions. It was directed by Stephen Herek.

Coach: Gordon Bombay
Team Captain: Charlie Conway
Rival Team: The Hawks
Moral Conscience: Hans

D2: The Mighty Ducks

Inspired by his own players, Bombay decides to try out in the minor leagues and becomes the star player for the fictional Minnehaha Waves, with an easy pathway to the NHL. After a career-ending knee injury, he is offered a chance to coach a team representing the United States in the Junior Goodwill Games. For this, he reunites his Ducks and introduces them to five new players from across the country to form Team USA. However, the lure of celebrity becomes a distraction to both Bombay and the players, and reality kicks in when they lose against Team Iceland in an embarrassing defeat. Frustrated, Bombay drives his players even harder, yet Team USA continues to suffer, until they come across a street hockey team who teaches them how to play like "the real Team USA". New player Russ Tyler (Kenan Thompson), who earlier mocked Team USA during its matches, is recruited into the roster. Bombay realizes the most important thing is to have fun and after a change in attitude, the Ducks redeem themselves by working up the playoff ladder to meet Team Iceland in the finals. Team USA proves to be a match for Iceland, but the game ends in a tie, resulting in a shootout, which resulted in Team USA winning.

Coach: Gordon Bombay
Team Captain: Charlie Conway
Rival Team: Team Iceland
Moral Conscience: Jan

D3: The Mighty Ducks

The movie shifts focus from Bombay to protégé Charlie Conway (Joshua Jackson). Charlie and his teammates are awarded scholarships to Eden Hall Academy (a fictitious name from crossing Southwestern suburb Eden Prairie, Cretin-Derham Hall, and Saint Thomas Academy), a prestigious Minnesota high school Bombay attended. Their arrival is met with hostility from the varsity team (mainly consisting of players who are members of rich families, whose younger siblings were not accepted to the academy to make room for the Ducks), as well as Bombay's hand-picked successor, Ted Orion (Jeffrey Nordling), whose emphasis on defensive two-way hockey irks Charlie. Not wanting to be on a team led by Orion, who he believes to be a washed-up former professional player, Charlie leaves the team, but rejoins as he learns the truth about Orion from Bombay. Charlie and Orion quickly bond in time for the JV-Varsity Showdown, and thanks in large part to the work of Charlie, the Ducks win on a shorthanded goal in the dying seconds of the game from unlikely goal scorer Greg Goldberg (who is converted from goalie to defenseman).

Coach: Ted Orion
Team Captain: Charlie Conway
Rival Team: The Varsity Warriors
Moral Conscience: Hans & Bombay

Opponents

All three films cast an opposing hockey team representing the various obstacles to the team:

Team Name

All three films also had the Ducks start off with a different name, but reverts to the Ducks:

Goals

Many of the goals the Ducks score are artistic or gimmicky in nature. One of their gimmicks is the Flying V, where all five players skate down the ice in much the same manner as a flock of ducks, the puck being passed around between the squad (the team manages to score 2 goals with this maneuver: one in D1 and another in D2; following this, opposing teams defend successfully against it).

In the end to each movie, the Ducks prevail over their opponents by a single goal.

NHL Cameos

Each movie showcases a cameo appearance by National Hockey League players:

Roster

The following is the roster of all players for the Ducks, along with jersey numbers, playing positions and appearances in the three films. Seven of the players appear in all three films (Germaine, Averman, Moreau, Goldberg, Reed, Conway, and Banks). Their coaches are Gordon Bombay (Estevez, D1 and D2) and Ted Orion (Nordling, D3).

Lasting impact

More than 20 years later, the Mighty Ducks has become a cult classic for those who grew up in the 1990s. Houston Texans star J.J. Watt and Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper are among the trilogy's fans. A podcast dedicated to the trilogy, The Quack Attack, has more than 100 episodes.