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Don’t Bothers/The Mighty Ducks
Evan Morrow
Evan Morrow
Played by: Brady Noon
Cut from the Mighty Ducks and shunned by his former teammates, Evan decides to create his own hockey team, the Don’t Bothers. Usually plays a centre forward position.- Alone in a Crowd: Realizes he’s this when his former Ducks teammates basically ice him out when he’s cut from the team.
- Disappeared Dad: While it's established that Evan does have a relationship with his dad, he's a struggling musician who's on the road all the time and is rarely reliable. He does make a point of doing things with Evan when he can see him, like going camping, and Evan always walks away having a good time, but it's Alex who tends to have to deal with his dad's irresponsibility more.
- Everyone Has Standards: Evan doesn't like losing and wants the Don't Bothers to actually compete for the playoffs, but he also wants the team to be fun and won't sacrifice that for victory. When he sees how miserable everyone is becoming when Alex starts having the team act more like the Ducks, Evan tries talking to her about it before deciding Alex needs to be fired when she won't let up.
- Displayed again at States when he and the group decide as a collective to give up first place to the Ducks in order to preserve the long-term health of Sofi's knee.
- Genre Savvy: Displays this at times. He knows full well the Don’t Bothers are a terrible team but holds out hope that they will do well anyway. He also convinces Sofi to join the team partly by painting the Ducks as the bad guys.
- It's All About Me: Downplayed. While he admits to his teammates that he was only thinking about his potential future if he rejoined the Ducks, a large part of his motive for doing so stemmed from Coach T pointing out how great a college scholarship for be for his mom.
- The Leader: While it was his mom who named him the team captain, Evan proves the role fits him like a glove as he's the one who leads the team on the ice and helps everyone improve at practice.
- Nice Guy: He's rarely rude or bratty and always tries to make sure every kid feels included.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Considered rejoining the Ducks and went as far as practicing with the team for a day. Although he decides against it, the Don't Bothers abandon him on the ice when his almost-betrayal is discovered.
- Rousing Speech: Gives a passionate speech at school in an effort to convince others to join the Don't Bothers. It works.
- Took a Level in Badass: Improves significantly as a member of the Don't Bothers, to the point where Coach T tries to recruit him to rejoin the Ducks.
- We Are Not an Item: Evan and Sofi quickly deny being out on a date when asked by the waitress at the pizza restaurant.
- Subverted in later episodes. By the end of episode 9, they are on the verge of a Relationship Upgrade.
- Weak, but Skilled: Evan is a good player in terms of technical skills, but he struggles in his first practice in his new division because he's too small and outmatched physically.
Nick Ganz
Nick Ganz
Played by: Maxwell Simkins
Evan’s neighbor and hockey fan/podcast host, Nick is the first player recruited by Evan for the Don’t Bothers. Usually plays a right winger position.
- Ambiguously Bi: While he does have a Precocious Crush on Winnie and enjoys the attention he gets from girls after scoring his first goal, the awkward way he talks about inviting Evan to a sleepover makes him sound like he trying to ask Evan on a date and it's later shown his phone background is a picture of Evan.
- Ascended Fanboy: Nick is a massive fan of hockey, but previously couldn't hack it out of the PeeWee circuit, and gets a second chance with Alex and Evan.
- Best Friend: To Evan, or at least that’s what he’s trying to become as of the fourth episode. They do, by the season finale, refer to each other as best friends.
- Dumber Than They Look: Several characters believe that Nick is a good student because of his somewhat geeky personality, but he admits that he's actually an average student whose grades average around "B-".
- Fat Comic Relief: The only overweight Don't Bothers skater and easily the funniest member of the team.
- Precocious Crush: Nick has one on Winnie, who runs the snack bar at the Ice Palace.
- Ridiculously Average Guy: Others assume he's Book Smart, but he's the first to admit that's he's a pretty average student, as well as athlete.Nick: And now, the Don't Bothers let me try and play and turns out...I'm average.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: He was never a skilled hockey player at the PeeWee level and dropped out before middle school, and picked it up again with the Don't Bothers. By the end he's proud to declare that... he's an average hockey player.
Sofi Hanson-Bhatt
Sofi Hanson-Bhatt
Played by: Swayam Bhatia
A former teammate of Evan’s when he played for the Mighty Ducks, Evan attempts to convince her to switch teams. Usually plays a left winger position.
- Academic Athlete: Sofi excels academically, as well as a hockey player.
- Competition Freak: Is willing to risk permanent injury to her knee to play the Ducks for the championship.
- Dented Iron: Throughout the season, she deals with a sprained knee. Eventually, it gets too severe and she has to sit out.
- Genki Girl: Is very energetic, positive and motivated with a slight girly streak.
- Go-Getter Girl: She places enormous pressure on herself, wanting to be the best at school, hockey, — basically everything.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Asks Trevor (of the Ducks) to take her to the pre-tournament dance after seeing Evan and MJ hugging.
- I Can Still Fight!: Sofi is so determined to play through her knee injury so the team doesn't have to forfeit that everyone else tells her they'll sit out instead so it'll happen anyway and she won't hurt herself more.
- Smart People Know Latin: Uses her upcoming Latin test as an excuse to leave the team gathering early, but is actually still pissed off with Evan in "Pond Hockey."
- Token Good Teammate: After Evan gets cut from the Ducks, Sofi is the only one on the team who's not a jerk. This helps convince her to switch teams.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's both of these. She's tough as nails and hangs with the boys on her hockey teams and has some non-stereotypically feminine interests like sports, video games and Latin, but also has a girly streak and is looking forward to a girls' night with Lauren and Maya.
- We Are Not an Item: Sofi and Evan quickly deny being out on a date when asked by the waitress at the pizza restaurant.
- Subverted in later episodes, culminating in her kissing Evan during the pickup game against the Ducks.
Logan LaRue
Logan LaRue
Played by: Kiefer O'Reilly
A new neighbour of Evan and Nick's, he's a massive hockey fan from Toronto... who can't skate to save his life. Plays a forward position, although is not on the top line.- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Introducing himself to the team, he shares that his mom cheated on his dad, his parents are divorcing, and...he likes cats.
- Celebrity Resemblance: Meta example: Fans have noted that Logan and his actor Kiefer O'Reilly share a stunning resemblance to NHL player William Nylander... who also happens to play for Logan's favourite team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. That resemblance has yet to be commented on in-universe, however.
- The Charmer: Charms the woman at the front desk of the Ducks' ice rink, distracting her long enough to allow the rest of the Don't Bothers to make their way to the lost and found room.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Did not return for season 2.
- Hair Flip: Most of his appearances in the first episode start with a slow motion hair flip.
- Lonely Rich Kid: During the turmoil of the divorce, his parents showered him with expensive gifts, such as hockey gear and a guitar, but didn't help him learn how to use any of it. Not to mention, what he actually longs for is a loving, stable family.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Logan's contribution to Evan's plan to butter up Sofi to convince her join the Don't Bothers is his hair care tips.
- Missing Mom: Logan lives with his single dad, who moved to Minnesota after Logan's mother cheated on him and broke the family's heart.
- Nice Guy: He's just a big hockey fan who wants to be part of the team and is supportive of his teammates, and has a pretty good sense of humour about not being much of a skater.
- Stepford Smiler: On the surface, he seems like a relaxed, easy going guy. In truth, he's very insecure due to what he sees as his lack of talents and depressed because of his family situation.
- Supreme Chef: He took up cooking because his father is too depressed to keep house. He uses his skills to make pancakes for his teammates. Gordon later takes advantage of this to teach him how to score "lacrosse style".
Jaden "Koob" Koobler
Jaden "Koob" Koobler
Played by: Luke Islam
A gamer who gets recruited by Evan and Nick to be the team's goalie.- Basement-Dweller: He's introduced having spent 10,000+ hours on an NHL game and in the basement of his home.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Befitting the stereotype that all hockey goalies are weird, Koob is a socially awkward, screen-addicted gamer who takes to wearing the same pair of socks to games because he's convinced they're good luck. When forbidden from wearing them by the team, he decides to use his dirty socks as helmet liners instead.
- Hidden Depths: He's an excellent singer and regales Nick's moms with a rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables.
- I Know Madden Kombat: Subverted. His reflexes are excellent due to his playing the NHL video games, but he still struggles at first due to his poor nerve and foot movement. Once Gordon helps him with his movement, he greatly improves.
- Magic Feather: He forgot to bring clean socks one game and wore a dirty pair, only for the team to go on a winning streak so he becomes convinced it's because of his socks and he refuses to change or wash them.
- No Social Skills: Prior to joining the Don't Bothers, he spent thousands of hours alone in his basement. When Evan sends him over to help recruit Sofi at school, he can barely muster a single word.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: He is almost always referred to as "Koob" or "Koob13"; only occasionally is he called by his last name, and almost never by his first.
- Phoneaholic Teenager: He's glued to his electronics. When he attends a sleepover at Nick's house and Nick's mothers take his phone to enforce a no-screen rule, he experiences a panic attack.
- The Pig-Pen: His personal hygiene isn't the best. The team's "wearing the same socks every game" superstition was started by him.
Maya Kasper
Maya Kasper
Played by: Taegen Burns
A popular girl at the team's school who decides to join the team, who moved to the Twin Cities from New York City at the age of seven. Usually plays defence on the right.- Alone in a Crowd: Admits on the very first episode that she never feels like she truly belongs with the popular girls and always feels like she's just hanging on. Although she appears to still be friendly with them as the series progresses, she mostly finds more acceptance in her new team.
- Brooklyn Rage: She and her family are originally from New York City and, while she doesn't get violently angry, she does posses the standoffishness, Brutal Honesty, and tendency to swear that come with the attitude.
- Deadpan Snarker: Most of the sarcastic comments by the players come from her.
- Hidden Depths: While she often exhibits a rebellious attitude and is in Relationship Revolving Doors, she shows genuine emotions when interacting with teammates Lauren and Sofi. And we barely even see her play hockey!
- Lady Swears-a-Lot: In addition to being sarcastic, she also uses some mild profanity.
- Odd Friendship: She and Lauren are good friends despite Maya being a popular fashionista and Lauren a Cloud Cuckoo Lander who loves fantasy media.
- True Companions: With Lauren by the end of the first season, admitting that she's the first real friend she's made.
Adib "Sam" Samitar
Adib "Sam" Samitar
Played by: D.J. Watts
A daredevil who takes up Evan's offer to join the Don't Bothers. Appears to play forward but is sometimes in a defensive position.- Captain Crash: Sam enjoys crashing into things as he skateboards or ice skates.
- Flat Character: Most of the other kids get some decent development, but aside from the Capek brothers, he gets the least development, as his one arc mostly centres around a single conflict with Evan.
- KidAnova: He mentions having a girlfriend in one episode and gives Evan advice on how to take his friendship with Sofi to the next level.
- Token Minority: The team's sole black member.
- Useless Spleen: Shares that he no longer has a spleen, due to crashing into a stop sign.
Lauren Gibby
Lauren Gibby
Played by: Bella Higginbotham
The team's resident Cloud Cuckoo Lander, who loves fantasy media and role-playing and forms an Odd Friendship with Maya and Sofi. Usually plays defence on the left.- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Did not return for season 2.
- Hypocrite: After calling out Maya for being friendly to her in private and snobbish in public, she proves to be just as cliquey toward Maya when around her own fantasy enthusiasts.
- Odd Friendship: She and Maya are good friends despite Maya being a popular fashionista and Lauren a Cloud Cuckoo Lander who loves fantasy media.
- Security Blanket: Is never without her "whispersilk" cape, which her father gave her in the third grade to hide her back brace due to scoliosis.
- True Companions: She and Maya are best friends on and off the ice by the end of the first season.
Tibor and Havel Capek
Tibor and Havel Capek
Tibor Played By: Forrest Rozitis
Havel Played By: Zenon Brown
A pair of brothers who join the Don't Bothers later in the season. Position is unclear as they are rarely seen on the ice.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Did not return for season 2.
- Flat Character: Neither have received any characterization and are usually seen sitting quietly in the background.
- Funny Foreigner: They've recently moved to town from the Czech Republic and don't speak a lot of English, which is Played for Laughs when Evan tries asking what positions they play.
- The Quiet One: They don't speak much English so they usually stay quiet when around others.
Jace Cole
Played by: Naveen Paddock
Coach Cole's son. He resents being forced into hockey.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: He wants his father's approval but doesn't want to have to earn it through hockey.
Coaches
Alex Morrow
Played by: Lauren Graham
Evan's mother, who helps form the Don't Bothers and steps in as coach so that her son and other rejected kids can have a chance to have fun while playing organized sports.
- Authority in Name Only: While she's the team's coach, she actually doesn't know that much about hockey, so Evan is the one who leads the team through all of their practice drills while Bombay helps the players develop their special skills.
- Became Their Own Antithesis: With the playoffs in the team's sights, she becomes more and more focused on winning, to the point that she scolds the team when a win doesn't go the way she wanted. In other words, she's becoming Coach T.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Alex works as a paralegal at a well respected law firm, meaning that she does most of the work to help the firm win their cases while the actual lawyers get all the credit.
- Contrasting Sequel Protagonist: Unlike Bombay, who was a high-flying lawyer who only got into coaching due to court-ordered community service, Alex is a paralegal who ended up coaching altruistically because she sees that the cutthroat nature of youth sports is actually harming children.
- Mama Bear: She rips into everyone she sees when Coach T cuts Evan from the Ducks in a rather brusque fashion.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: She's only called Alexandra in Change On The Fly.
- Only Sane Woman: She's the only one of the Ducks parents who sees how ridiculous the lengths they're all going to to help their kids play better actually are.
- Tragic Dropout: She became pregnant with Evan while she was still a law school student and had to drop out so she could work as a paralegal to support them.
- Will Not Tell a Lie: Particularly with Evan, but also tends to be very upfront with the team about their many faults.
Gordon Bombay
Played by: Emilio Estevez
Former coach of the Ducks, who turned a losing team into a powerhouse program. In the years since the original film trilogy, he's soured toward hockey and now struggles to keep the Ice Palace running.
- Berserk Button: Gordon is clearly disgusted by Evan's dad not being a reliable parent to his son, as Gordon lost his father as a kid and would give anything to have had more time with him.
- Cynicism Catalyst:
- He became disenchanted with youth hockey when the Ducks' success led to parents starting to meddle in their children's playing out of the belief that playing for a winning team will set them onto a path to future success. As a result, he quit and moved onto become a college coach.
- As a college coach, he built another winning team only to fall foul of college recruiting laws when he gave a young prospect some money to buy tape. Seeing how much trouble his small act of kindness caused resulted in him swearing off hockey altogether.
- Famed In-Story: Decades later, hockey enthusiasts still recognize him as the "Minnesota Miracle Man".
- The Ghost: Due to Emilio Estevez exiting after Season 1, the show avoids writing out Bombay completely by saying that the Ice Palace burned down and that he's busy with repairs to provide a reason for why he's not working with the Ducks.
- Guile Hero: He knows that the Don't Bothers lack the skills and physicality to take on other teams in a straight game so he devises trick plays to confuse opponents and take advantage of chaos.
- Jerkass Façade: While Gordon doesn't act nearly as much as a Jerkass as he did before he became the Ducks coach, he's still a bit grouchy and standoffish towards Alex and Evan due to his sourness towards hockey. Eventually, he drops the act.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Has this reaction when he reunites with several of his former players and realizes that his failure to keep in touch with them hurt them deeply, with Charlie in particular refusing to attend the Spirit of the Ducks gala because he gave up trying to reconnect with him.
- Parental Substitute: Is clearly becoming one for Evan by the third episode.
Daryl “Coach T” Tingman
Played by: Dylan Playfair
Current coach of the Ducks, who embodies the competitive and win-at-all-costs mentality the team has adopted.
- Characterization Marches On: In the first episode, he's not really that much of a jerk and comes across as a guy who's just caught up in how ultra-competitive youth hockey has become. The rest of the series throws this out the window and instead depicts him as essentially a younger version of Coach Reilly.
- Evil Is Petty: After Season 1's climactic game between the Ducks and the Don't Bothers, he expresses anger by throwing a tantrum. When he returns in Season 2, he's raring for revenge because he now lives in Canada, where the bacon is too thick and the coins are too thin and how these facts won't stop irritating him.
- Glory Days: Implied. It's mentioned that he played for the Ducks himself in his youth hockey years and led the team to three state championships. Given his young age, it's clear he didn't make it to the pros so it's likely he took the coaching job to continue living his youth hockey glory.
- Hidden Depths: Turns out he's just as fed up with all of the Sports Dads meddling in youth hockey as Gordon is and is aware that the high standards of the Ducks program often brings out his worst behavior. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop him from trying to use underhanded methods to get Gordon removed as the Don't Bothers coach.
- Jerk Jock: When the Ducks give up a single point in a blowout game, he berates the team and forces everyone to take extra practice right after as punishment.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Although he's rude and blunt about it, he's right in that Evan's lack of physical development is a liability. Being small in a division where everyone else is hitting their growth spurts means Evan would be struggling to compete against opponents who are stronger and faster than he is no matter how good his technical skills are.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Although the first episode sees Coach T give Evan an extremely harsh, but technical true justification for why he was cutting him, he wasn't an outright asshole to Evan or Alex. This gets chucked out the window with his future appearances, where he's revealed to be competitive to a fault, turning verbally abusive to the Ducks for allowing the Don't Bothers to score a single goal on them in what was otherwise a blowout game, his disqualifying Alex in what was supposed to be a low-stakes "mom competition" on a technicality, trying to manipulate Evan back to the Ducks when he realizes he might have made a mistake in cutting him, or ratting on Gordon's past NCAA violation to the Minnesota youth hockey organization to try to get him removed as the Don't Bothers coach.
- Manchild: He throws a tantrum when the Don't Bothers beat the Ducks in their pickup game and Stephanie agrees to uphold the terms of the bet. Notably, his middle school aged players act more mature about it than him.
- No Name Given: His full name isn’t revealed until it’s shown on a banner at the Spirit of the Ducks Gala.
- Small Name, Big Ego: He seems to think that his accomplishments as coach of the Ducks entitles him to some kind of celebrity status, akin to that of the original Ducks team. When the original Ducks meet him at the team's anniversary gala, they are completely unimpressed by him and don't even bother learning his name.
- Younger and Hipper: He's basically a young-adult version of Jack Reilly.
Colin Cole
Played by: Josh Duhamel
A retired NHL player who runs the Elite Performance Ice Center that the Ducks attend in Season 2.
- Alliterative Name. Also his nickname, Coach Cole.
- Glamorous Single Mother: Gender flipped. He's a single father who runs a booming business that caters to some of the best (and wealthiest) in youth hockey.
- Not So Above It All: He enforces a strict nutritional program on his players but also likes to sneak into the kitchen late at night to indulge in ice-cream.
- The Spartan Way: His training program involves long hours of intense, physical training and specialized diets all intended to create top-tier hockey talent.
Others
Stephanie Reddick
Played by: Julee Cerda
Alex's boss and the leader of the Ducks parents, who is very snobby and takes advantage of Alex at work.
- Alpha Bitch: She's a snob who acts as the leader of the Ducks parents.
- Everyone Has Standards: She understands that a bet is a bet and the Don't Bothers won the Mighty Ducks name fair and square.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: For all of her faults, she does genuinely appreciate Alex's hard work and later helps her save Gordon from being banned from coaching the Don't Bothers.
- Mean Boss: While not outright malicious, she treats Alex as a Beleaguered Assistant with a good amount of Condescending Compassion and doesn't give her as much credit at work as she should.
- Stepford Smiler: Episode 9 reveals that the stress of her family keeping up appearances has strained her marriage and she and her husband are getting divorced.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Not only drives Alex to States to defend Bombay as the coach, but also sides with the Don't Bothers after they win their pickup game and allows the Ducks name to be passed onto them.
Mary Joe
Played by: Lia Frankland
Nick's podcasting co-host who becomes the Don't Bothers play-by-play announcer.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Well, not sexual, because it's a family show, but romantic, with Nick. She claims that you could cut the romantic tension between them with a butter knife. He agrees.
Ruby and Trevor Reddick
Ruby and Trevor Reddick
Played by: Hayley Lee (Ruby) and Kasra Wong (Trevor)
Stephanie's fraternal twin children who are stars on the Ducks and former friends of Evan.- Everyone Has Standards: Ruby is visibly annoyed that Coach T insists on dragging out the final match between the Ducks and the Don't Bothers.
- Jerk Jock: They both certainly come across as this, cutting Evan out of their lives after he's cut from the team and openly mocking him and the Don't Bothers. They are nice to him... when he briefly comes back to the team.
- Twin Hijinks: Completely averted. Despite being on a team together, they're rarely seen interacting as friends.
