After boarding Season 2 of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, series star Josh Duhamel will double down on his duty as boss. In the series, he plays Coach Cole, a former NHL player who rides the Ducks hard in order for them to be better hockey players. Behind the camera, however, Duhamel directs this week’s episode, titled “Spirit of the Ducks: Part 2”. In order to tease the new episode, Disney+ shared with Collider an exclusive clip that sees coach Alex Morrow (Lauren Graham) teaching the Mighty Ducks a valuable lesson.
The episode, of course, ties in with Season 1’s “Spirit of the Ducks”, in which the original Mighty Ducks return to celebrate Bombay's (Emilio Estevez) tenure as coach. The emotional episode is filled with nostalgia and has a touching homage to the character, as well as a Mighty Ducks 25th Anniversary Gala. The new episode probably won't be as nostalgic, since Estevez isn't featured in Season 2, but the core of Mighty Ducks stories is definitely there.
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers Introduces The "Knuckle Puck"
In the clip, Alex gives a much-needed pep talk to the team, since they are up against players that are better prepared for competition. That shouldn’t suggest they have to give up, though. As she puts it, the underdogs (or underbirds?) have to “look at the game sideways.” Then, she hits a hockey puck – or the “knuckle puck”, as she calls it – and ends up teaching a lesson a lot more effectively than she expected.
Josh Duhamel's Dream of Directing on TV
This is the second time that Duhamel sits in the director’s chair. Back in 2019, he helmed the comedy Buddy Games, with Kevin Dillon, Olivia Munn, and Dax Shepard. Duhamel was also in the movie, meaning that he directed himself. In The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, the actor and director also does that, as he’s a regular in Season 2. In an official statement, Duhamel revealed that directing a TV episode has been a lifelong dream:
"Directing television is something I dreamt about doing since I started in this business 100 years ago. I truly had such a blast directing 'Mighty Ducks' and working with these terrific actors and incredible crew."
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers is based on the 1992 movie, and showrunners Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith decided to follow up the story rather than reboot it. Aside from Graham and Duhamel, the show also features Brady Noon, Maxwell Simkins, Swayam Bhatia, Luke Islam, Taegen Burns, DJ Watts, and Naveen Paddock.
Disney+ rolls out episodes of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers every Wednesday. Season 2 is set to wrap its run by the end of November. You can watch the clip below:
Check out the official synopsis for Season 2 below:
After winning back the Mighty Ducks team name last year, our squad-with-heart and their coach Alex Morrow (Lauren Graham) take to the road to attend an intense summer hockey institute in California run by charming yet hardcore former NHL player, Colin Cole (Josh Duhamel). It’s a place for kids to get excellent at hockey — without school to get in the way. As our Ducks try to survive in this super-competitive environment, they’re faced with the question: Can you win summer?