The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers: Summer Breezers-Recap

credit: The Mighty Ducks

It’s become nearly impossible not to sigh in exasperation at this series since the general idea of not wanting to stifle the idea of allowing kids to explore new friendships and have fun with something they enjoy isn’t something that needs to be pushed. But the fact is that being competitive and keeping one’s edge is still important if a kid decides that they want to entertain the idea of becoming a pro athlete, it’s necessary to learn how to become and remain competitive for a prolonged period of time. The fact is that Alex has been undermining Epic since the Ducks arrived, and while Coach Cole’s methods are a bit brutal at times, they’re meant to get results and keep the kids hungry for the type of success that they’ll want later on. Alex’s attempts to turn this camp into a regular summer camp aren’t completely horrible, but her utter lack of compromise makes it clear that she’s not only a helicopter parent but she’s also a bit of a narcissist as well. People might not want to hear this, but she’s one of the biggest issues the Ducks have since she’s not much of a coach.  

credit: The Mighty Ducks

The whole idea behind camp Epic is to hone the skills that the kids already have. 

This is one of the most irritating parts of the series at this point since the need to impose the idea that everyone should get equal playing time and that the kids should be allowed to maximize their enjoyment while at camp feels like a polite way of saying that participation is just as good as skill. Camp Epic isn’t the issue, and neither are the coaches or the training regimen. It’s true that things could lighten up a bit, but the overall idea of the place is to take the skills that the kids have and improve upon them while at the same time teaching them other methods and techniques to heighten their game. People might think it stresses kids out and that winning isn’t everything, but the truth is that the kids were selected because they’re some of the best in the nation, and if the workload becomes too much, it means they’re not ready, or that hockey isn’t bound to be their future. Plus, attending a hockey camp during the summer doesn’t mean that one is destined for the NHL. It simply means that others see potential in the kids who were selected. 

The Mighty Ducks story has always been about the underdogs, but the current team feels more like privileged misfits than anything else. 

The story has to change and evolve in order to remain relevant, but this one instance when the story could have gone back to its roots in order to tell a tale that would pay homage to the movies. The original team was made up of mostly inner-city misfits who didn’t have a lot and weren’t known to be great hockey players, as the lot of them had to be trained in how to play the game. Thus far, this series has made it clear that Evan and Sofi know how to play and are the best on the Ducks, but the others are privileged without a doubt, and this is readily apparent with characters such as Nick and Koob. The fact that Goldberg from the original movies had to work for his living and was a great goaltender, while Koob is addicted to video games and is spoiled beyond belief, says a lot when it comes to the efficiency of this story. 

credit: The Mighty Ducks

Trying to merge the teams to come up with the best among them is an easy out. 

For some reason, competition isn’t what it used to be, and the fact that the writers wanted to include both teams in the finale as a combined unit, with the best of them taking on the Canadian team that was seen arriving at the end of the episode. That does feel like it might be stacking the deck a bit, especially since it’s essentially shoring up any potential weak points while bolstering the strengths of the team. That might not sound like such a bad thing, but it does sound a little shady since the general idea was to play the overall best team from the camp, not the best-combined team. If there’s no adversity when it comes to dealing with a team’s weaknesses, then there’s not nearly as much challenge or hope for growth. 

The return of Coach T means that the Ducks are pretty much guaranteed a win. 

Seeing Coach T means that it’s safe to assume that team Dominate and the Ducks, which will likely become a combination of the two or the Ducks, will end up winning since Coach T is still classified as a villain who doesn’t like to lose. The fact is that Coach T wasn’t a nice person, to be certain, but his team will no doubt lose because they either lack the heart or the determination of the Epic group.