The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers: Trade Rumors-Recap

credit: The Mighty Ducks

It’s nice to know that other critics are taking a look at this series in the same light, as many people had hope for The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers and were happy enough to see what happened in season 1. The Don’t Bothers had the spirit of the Ducks, to be certain, even if the actual Mighty Ducks were a bunch of overworked and arrogant kids that were led by an equally arrogant coach. In other words, the first season showed that the underdogs had to take the spirit of the Ducks back, but even if there was no real way for them to win, they did so by having enough heart and just enough skill to hang with the better team. Plus, the better team didn’t take them seriously, which was a huge mistake. But the second season is taking that same theme to a new height since, upon attending the Epic training camp, the Ducks are way out of their league collectively, while Evan and Sofi are about the only two on the team that has a chance to hang with the best young hockey players in the country. Unfortunately, the second season of Game Changers is taking the underdog idea to an extreme that doesn’t work. 

credit: The Mighty Ducks

One big difference is that the original Ducks had coaches who actually knew something about the game. 

Does anyone recall that the original ducks had Gordon Bombay, and then they had Coach Riley in the third movie? These guys knew something about hockey, and in fact, they knew just about as much as Coach Cole. The fact that Alex has taken over as coach is kind of disconcerting since, thus far, her decision-making abilities have been horrible, and her decision to bring the kids to an elite training camp and expect them to treat it like it’s a regular camp is enough to make a person shake their head. Some people tend to think that pushing their children if they show skill and desire for a sport or pretty much anything is putting too much stress on them. Sometimes they’re right, but these aren’t little kids, and preparing them for the hard truths the world has to offer is just as important as teaching them to have fun with what they do. Alex is more about fun and going at her own pace than she is about being competitive, and in a competitive sport, that’s a bit counter-productive. 

Most of the original Ducks had some skill when it came to working with their team and as individuals. 

As it’s shown in this episode, each person on the team has their place and a set of skills that they can employ. But as a team, they still come off as a loose and very beatable bunch, which makes their victories in the tournament that much harder to accept since, if anyone notices, the defending goalie has no help against the Ducks during each game, which is a nitpicking detail of course but is still enough to state that the Ducks need to be made to look good. This doesn’t make for a convincing victory, even in a fictional story. It’s almost as though the Ducks are being given the look of a team that would say, ‘I’m okay, you’re okay, we’re all winners’, and that kind of story doesn’t hold up here. Like it or not, the original Ducks still wanted to win, and once they got used to winning, they found even better ways to do it, like, oh, I don’t know, actually training instead of screwing around all the time. 

credit: The Mighty Ducks

It was easy to feel some sympathy for Coach Cole up until this point. 

To be honest, it was a very easy thing to do when feeling sorry for Coach Cole, especially when Alex was in good spirits or trying to be while undermining his camp. The point of the story feels as though it’s to remind kids to just have fun, and that’s all well and good, but those who are actively trying to gain the attention of scouts who might feel that they have the potential to play the game they want need to be on point. Alex’s decision to be such a pain in the neck has made it simple to think that Coach Cole might be severe in his training methods but is still very much in the right. Now that Cole is giving in to Alex’s way of thinking though, it’s becoming harder and harder to see him as anything but a lovestruck simp. It’s also becoming increasingly clear that the Ducks are bound to win since to do anything else might be to shatter Jace’s precious ego, which has never healed after one mistake he made in a game a while back. Going woke is not a good look with the Ducks at this time since it implies that winning, and wanting to win, is placing too much pressure on kids. Like always, welcome to the participation trophy era. 

Alex’s optimism isn’t endearing this season. It’s just annoying. 

The whole idea that Alex has been able to learn something while she’s been at Epic is all well and good. But the fact that she thinks her team has a chance against team Dominate is kind of cute, even though the victory the Ducks will probably take will be a whole bunch of nonsense.