THE MIGHTY DUCKS

'''The Mighty Ducks''' is the first film in ''The Mighty Ducks'' trilogy, produced by Avnet-Kerner Productions and Walt Disney Pictures, distributed by Buena Vista Distribution, and originally released to movie theatres on October 2, 1992.
In the UK and Australia the film was titled ''Champions''. UK video and DVD releases are now titled ''The Mighty Ducks are the Champions'', reflecting both titles.

Contents

Plot

External links

Plot

After winning yet another case, hotshot Minneapolis defense attorney, Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez), is arrested for drunk driving. Having the book thrown at him by the vengeful prosecutor and judge Bombay had belittled in the previous trial, Bombay is sentenced to community service - namely, coaching the local District 5 peewee hockey team. Bombay himself has had history with the sport, although his memories are far from pleasant; he had singlehandedly blown a penalty shot that would have won his team the state championship, but instead caused the team to lose the title for the first time ever and disappointing the hyper competitive coach, Jack Reilly (Lane Smith).
When Bombay meets the team for the first time, he realizes that the kids have no practice facility, no equipment, and no ability to go with it. The team's first game with Bombay at the helm is against the Hawks, the team that Bombay had played for in the past. Reilly is still the team's coach, and remains bitter about Gordon's shortcoming in that fateful game - the team's second-place banner still hangs amidst the row of championships along the arena walls. District 5 gets pummeled in the game, 18-0, and after Bombay berates the team for not listening to him, the players challenge Bombay's authority. Meanwhile, Bombay discovers that his old mentor and family friend, Hans (Joss Ackland), who owns a nearby sporting goods store, was in attendance.
The following practice, Bombay attempts to teach the team to dive for the next game, but this plan backfires when the players exaggerate their falls so much that the referee threatens to forfeit the game to their opponents. The children's parents also voice their displeasure to Bombay for working overtime to pay the money to enroll their kids in the league, only to see them take dives. Needing some guidance, he heads to Hans' store. There, he recalls the tragedy of losing his father six months after the championship game, which was the reason why Bombay quit hockey. Hans gives him a pair of newly sharpened skates, encouraging him to rekindle his childhood passion.
Bombay approaches his boss, Gerald Ducksworth (Josef Sommer), to sponsor the team, which Ducksworth reluctantly agrees when Bombay offers him his own jersey. The result is a complete makeover for the team, both in look (as they can now buy professional equipment), and in skill (as Bombay has more time to teach the kids the fundamentals of hockey). Now playing as the ''Ducks'', they fight to a tie in the next game, and show signs of a turnaround. Along the way, they recruit three new players: the sibling team of Tommy (Danny Tamberelli) and Tammy Duncan (Jane Plank), a pair of sibiling ice skaters, and slap shot specialist and enforcer, Fulton Reed (Elden Henson). Team captain Charlie "Spazway" Conway (Joshua Jackson), one of the Ducks' most talented young players, catches Bombay's eyes and seeing his potential, takes him under his wing as his protege.
Despite the Ducks' poor record before Bombay's arrival, they learn that they still have a chance to make the playoffs, since one of the teams had to withdraw for the rest of the season, due to their players contracting measles. Bombay also learns that Adam Banks (Vincent LaRusso), the star player of the Hawks, actually resides in the Ducks' district boundaries. Bombay approaches Coach Reilly about the situation, and threatens the Hawks with forfeiting every game for the remainder of the season if Banks does not immediately join the Ducks. Reilly and Bombay get into an argument, and as Reilly chastises him for employing such underhanded tactics when the team had no chance to win anyway, Bombay appears to concur - albeit sarcastically - within earshot of two other Duck players. The players fail to recognize the context of the argument, and are devastated to hear Bombay belittle them. In addition, Bombay is fired from his firm for refusing to drop his protest with the league.
The following game, the rest of the team hears about Bombay's argument and apparent lack of faith in his players. This demoralizes the Ducks, and Bombay is forced to forfeit the game when only a couple of his players take the ice. After considering leaving the team, he is talked out of it by Charlie , and convinces the team to give him another chance the following day: the entire team was given detention for causing an "atom fight" during science class, throwing styrofoam balls at one another, then quacking at the teacher when ordered to settle down. The pep talk comes none too soon, as the team becomes fired up to win their final game of the season. In the meantime, Adam finally joins the Ducks, although met with uncertainty from the rest of the team for being a former Hawks, he proves to be a valuable asset in the game. Thanks to Reed's last-second slap shot, the Ducks are propelled into the playoffs. At this time, a romantic relationship begins to emerge between Bombay and Charlie's divorced mother, Casey Conway (Heidi Kling).
The Ducks win their next two games, sending them to the championship finals between the dreaded Hawks. Although Bombay and his squad celebrate the mere fact that they reached this far, the Hawks seem prepared to exact revenge on the team, both for the absconding of Adam, and for the disappointment caused by Bombay's misplay. When the game begins, the Hawks immediately jump out to a 3-0 lead, as Adam gets continually harassed by the Hawks' defense. Not content with simply winning, Reilly instructs one of his players to "drop [Banks] like a bad habit". The following play, Adam manages to score a goal, but not before a former "friend" from the Hawks roughs him from behind, sending him crashing into the goal and rendering him unable to play the rest of the game. The rest of the players, who before were standoffish around Adam due to his circumstances for joining the team, now accept him as a Duck and wish him well.
The Ducks are discouraged about Adam's injury, but Bombay manages to get them to score on the ensuing power play by sending Tammy out to distract the Hawks by doing a spin (drawing from her figure skating background), then passing to her brother right next to the goal for the score. One of the Hawks knocks her down after the goal, prompting Fulton to leave the bench and pick a fight with the opponent who did it, causing him to earn a game misconduct penalty, which includes an ejection from the game. Despite the team's two best offensive players out of commission, and another goal scored by the Hawks in the interim, the team manages to tie the game in the waning minutes of the third period by using their trademark "Flying V".
The Ducks' goalie, Greg Goldberg (Shaun Weiss), manages to make a big save in the final minute of regulation, and the Ducks seem content to head into overtime. But when Charlie steals the puck from the Hawks and has a breakaway in the closing seconds, there appears to be a chance to win the game outright. Before the shot can be taken, though, Charlie is cross-checked from behind and time expires. The Ducks earn a penalty shot, which anyone who was on the ice at the time of the penalty can take. Although Charlie's shot had been inconsistent in the past, Bombay nominates him to take the penalty shot anyway. Charlie himself seems reluctant to take the shot, but Bombay encourages him by telling him how proud he is of Charlie just to reach this point (a sharp contrast to Reilly threatening Bombay before his own penalty shot that his failure would let down the entire team). Charlie then makes his way to the puck and, employing the same "triple-deke" move that Bombay had attempted in the past, gets the puck past the goalie and in the net, winning the game and the city championship.
The movie ends with Bombay boarding a bus headed to a minor-league tryout. Although Bombay seems daunted at the prospect of going up against much younger players, he receives the same words of encouragement and advice from the Ducks that he had once given to them.

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