The Top Ten Moments of The Mighty Duck Trilogy

Last Saturday, I went to the gym to go for a run on one of the treadmills. The treadmills have mini televisions on them to beat the monotony of just running, so naturally I searched the channels to see what was on. I was lucky because I happened to stumble upon D2: Mighty Ducks. I hadn't seen the movie in quite some time (an embarrassment for me), so I watched the movie while I ran. When I finished my run, there was still a solid forty five minutes left in the movie, but I didn't move away. I continued to watch the movie until it concluded, walking at a pace close to 23 minutes per mile. It wasn't the extra exercise that made me do this. It was to rekindle my childhood memories of this fantastic movie. There were several times during that hour and forty five minutes where was tearing up from Banks getting injured to Charlie giving up his roster spot in the final game. I began thinking about all of the greatest moments in the trilogy and realized there was only one way I could figure out which one was the best: rank them. So here is the list of the greatest moments in the Mighty Ducks trilogy.

10. “Quack” chant D1

Whenever somebody mentions The Mighty Ducks more often than not, you will find yourself wanting to start the Quack chant. I’ve always wanted to do it in class like they did in D1. The quack chant signified the unity of the Ducks. In D1, the team faced a disturbing amount of turmoil with their previous coach having a heart attack, and Banks coming to the team. Despite everything they went through, they did what all champions do and came through in adversity. The “Quack” chant stored confidence in the players and allowed them to pull off the upset against the Hawks.



9. Bombay vs. Stanson D2

This is one of the more underrated moments of the Duck trilogy. With Iceland and US set to play in the final, Bombay chose to have a “fun” practice beforehand. What he didn’t expect was Iceland waiting on the other end of the rink to practice as well. Stanson’s crushing of the beach volleyball was one of the more intimidating things you will ever see in a movie. The way he used his padded gloves to crush the ball with such ease, and then toss it to the side like a rag doll was a perfect start to what we were in store for. Stanson also talking about Bombay’s dad, and diminishing the ‘triple deke’ move put Bombay over the edge and the action started to heat up. The match was physical to start with Stanson imposing his will against Bombay, as he quickly got to the lead. But the Minnesota Miracle Man wasn’t done yet, as he scored two consecutive times to put Stanson on the ropes. Bombay was about to win when Stanson cheapshotted Bombay in his injury plagued knee causing Bombay to fall on the ice. What happened next was nothing short of legendary. Duck fans will never forget the death stare between Bombay and Stanson.


8. Adam Banks’ game winning goal in the shootout
If Charlie Conway didn’t give up his roster spot, this moment wouldn’t have happened. While the shot was great, it was the events leading up to it that made it even sweeter. Adam ‘Cake Eater’ Banks was far and away The Duck’s best player throughout the tournament until Olaf Sanderson of Iceland cheapshotted him and injured his wrist in their first meeting. Banks tried to be a hero and play through the pain, but Bombay caught him taping his wrist which forced him to sit out. Banks felt pressure from the scouts watching, and his father, to play his best which eventually led to one of the more emotional moments of the trilogy with Bombay consoling him after finding out. Remarkably, before the start of the second meeting against Iceland, the pain in Bank’s wrist had resided and he concluded his memorable tournament with the shot of the year.

  7. “It’s knucklepuck time!”

While the execution of the final play in regulation against Iceland was very illegal, it still comes in as one of the top moments of the trilogy. Russ Tyler—the brash and gregarious player from South Central, Los Angeles—was the savior for the Ducks in more ways than one. In the beginning of the tournament, he constantly goaded Jesse Hall which took him off his game. It wasn’t until the practice leading up to the game against Germany where Tyler finally stepped in. After unveiling his patented ‘knuckle puck’ against team USA in the street game, Conway knew that if they were to win they would need Tyler’s spark. In the final game against Iceland Tyler replaces Goldberg at goalie (again, very illegal), which gave space for Tyler to get the shot off, and gave the opportunity for Stanson to have his second best line of the movie (THE GOALIEEEEEE!!!). We all knew it was going in once he released the shot (would Disney really have The Ducks lose in the final game?), and thus created one of the most climactic moments of the series.



6. “You’re going down, Reilly” D1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVpDD46fqr4

I know what you’re saying. How can one obscure line come in as one of the top moments in the Duck’s trilogy? Well, here’s some perspective. Everybody who has seen The Mighty Ducks knew well that Jack Reilly was a monster. He made a ten year old Bombay feel guilty for the rest of his playing days because he missed one shot. He made two of his players attack Banks to get him out of the championship game. He even went as far as calling Bombay “a never was” after Bombay found out Banks was playing for the wrong team. Bombay had finally seen the true Reilly in the championship game, and was disgusted by the foul play Reilly had instilled in the Hawks. Bombay’s line released over twenty years of frustration and angst against Reilly. We all know what happened after that, but Bombay’s initial reaction was something Duck’s fans will never forget.

5. Gordon Bombay flashback D1



 

The Bombay flashback in the beginning set the tone for the rest of the movie. As a ten year old, Gordon Bombay was a phenom. In a league dominated by eleven and twelve year olds, Bombay stood against the giants and was a star. According to Hans he scored 198 goals that season. But after he missed the penalty shot, his life was never the same. Reilly put too much pressure on Bombay as he child, and he never fully recovered. We all think D1 is about the team facing a David and Goliath situation, but the focus is certainly on Bombay getting rid of the demons from his past.


4. “Make him make the first move, Conway!” D3

The final two minutes against the Varsity team in D3 is one of the most exhilarating moments in sports movie history. There were several different story lines to resolve during those last two minutes. With the Ducks two men down, Coach O’Rion chose to go with Banks (obviously), Conway and Goldberg. Any unresolved issues between O’RIon and Conway were quickly diminished when O’Rion put the Captain C on Charlie’s jersey right before play started. We all know how it ended. Goldberg’s triumphant goal propelled the Ducks over the Warriors, but the key play during the two minutes was Warrior captain Jack Riley going one on one against Charlie. With no one back except for Charlie, he made a gutsy move to take out Riley which eventually led to the fast break goal at the end of regulation. I still get chills every time I watch it.

3. Charlie’s game winning goal D1

Redemption is one word to describe Conway’s game winning goal in D1. The events leading up to the penalty shot were eerily similar to the one Gordon faced when he was ten years old. The most obvious difference is the fact that Conway made the shot, but the advice Bombay gave him before hand was ten thousand times better than Reilly gave to him when he was younger. Seeing Charlie pull off the triple deke successfully, and making the shot had to have been one of Bombay’s greatest moments. As he said before the shot, nobody expected the Duck’s to make it that far, but it was the confidence that Bombay had in Charlie that led him to his moment of greatness.





2. “Minnesota Miracle Man” D3

Chills.
That’s one of the many words you can describe this moment. Charlie wasn’t a fan of going to Eden Hall Academy, and it made him even more upset when Coach O’Rion didn’t name him the captain. It almost took too long for Charlie to realize that he was being selfish, but hey, as a fourteen year old (he looks 20) who is one of the best players on the team, you get that sense of irrational confidence. After Hans had died, Charlie had hit a new low. He needed someone or something to pick him up.

Enter Gordon Bombay

Charlie and Gordon’s relationship went way further than player/coach. Bombay was the father Charlie never had. Sometimes as a father, the only thing you can do with your child is find a way to instill confidence in him even at the children’s lowest moments. That’s what Bombay did with his thrilling speech to Charlie. The look on Charlie’s face when Gordon calls him the “Minnesota Miracle Man” is one of the lasting images Duck fans will ever have.

 

 

1. Charlie and Gordon embrace D1
 

The embrace between Charlie Conway and Gordon Bombay may go down as one of the most climactic scenes in movie history. The Ducks were fresh off defeating the Hawks thanks to Conway’s penalty shot, and it was only fitting that Coach Bombay was the first to embrace him after. How perfect was that ending? After all of the turmoil Bombay went through with Reilly, he finally realized that the real purpose of pee wee hockey isn’t about winning and losing. It’s about having fun, and developing your talents. Charlie’s goal signified what Bombay’s shot should have been when he was ten years old. Bombay’s advice to Charlie before the shot was one of the more touching parts of the trilogy as it contrasted everything Reilly said to Bombay when he was younger. This moment was made even better in D3 when Bombay walks off and they show the flashback.