‘The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers’ Recap: ‘Summer Breezers’

Written by Zeke Perez Jr. 

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Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 209 of ‘The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.

Approaching the finale of season two, all signs pointed to a chaotic and explosive penultimate episode. While things do come to a head in a fiery start, this ended up as an episode of reconciliation and of the unexpected. The result is heartwarming in true Ducks fashion. 
 
The episode begins with tension that you could cut with a hockey skate blade. Dominate and the Ducks gather for the championship banquet and it’s clear that both teams are through with each other and the coaching staff. On a night of celebration when Coach Cole delivers a motivational opening speech, he’s met with sarcastic claps, glares, and muttering. The dinner further devolves into chaos when Evan and Jace get into an argument in the buffet line, which turns into an all-out scuffle between the two squads. 
 
Coach Alex suggests that maybe the coaches should apologize to the kids for letting their conflict and trade talk bring down the tone of camp, but (to no one’s surprise) Coach Cole believes they should settle things on the ice. As both teams sit in a room together cleaning up their mess, they find something they can finally agree on: pushing back against the coaches. Sofi takes charge and tells the group that they should be having the time of their life making lifelong friendships, not fighting over a game. 
 
Coach Cole and Coach Alex arrive at the rink for the Summer Showcase championship game only to find it empty. It turns out, the kids finally learned a lesson from the first episode: “you can’t win summer.” They instead decide to escape to the lake where they can “swim and/or frolic” without the pressures of the tournament. In their short time there, they form some strong bonds. Alex and Jace make amends, Maya reveals to Nick that she had a crush on him, AJ learns to make space for his younger brother, and other campers come out of their shells to make new friendships. 
 
In a pivotal and long-awaited scene, Coach Cole and Jace finally have a heart to heart. Coach apologizes to his son for the mistakes he made as a father, for not communicating after Jace’s mom passed away, for pushing hockey on him as an outlet, and for not knowing what to do after Jace’s flub in the big game. He tells Jace how he and his mother used to come there and how they brought Jace there when he was little; all reasons why he decided to build the camp in that location. The conversation shifts Coach Cole’s character. He becomes willing to move on from his own strict code to embrace the fun that the campers are having. For Jace, he’s able to put the past behind him and, in doing so, finds his shot again. 
 
As Team Canada heads to L.A. awaiting the winner of the Showcase, Coach Cole must decide how to settle EPIC’s big game that never was. His shift to more fun leads to a merger: Dominate and the Ducks put their rivalry aside to form a superteam. In a final cliffhanger, it’s revealed that Team Canada’s coach is none other than Coach T, the former coach of the Mighty Ducks who cut Evan from the team in season one. Just when the flames of the new rivalries were doused, old ones were stoked. 
 
The wholesome new Ducks are ready to fly, and their coaches’ philosophies are finally aligned. We head into the finale with a very clear good guy and bad guy. Coach Alex has shown that Coach Cole has a good heart and that he isn’t in it for the wrong reasons. Alex and Evan will finally be able to avenge how he was treated by Coach T, looking to take him out again - this time in a formal game. The ice is set for an unanticipated but very exciting showdown, especially if the Ducks and Dominate can gel quickly enough to win together against an international foe on a big stage. 

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