Of course the Ducks would become a powerhouse team ruled by domineering parents. Gordon Bombay turned the no-name District 5 players into champions in a single season, they went onto represent the US in an international tournament, and everyone got full-ride scholarships to a prestigious prep school (where they, as JV players, beat the Varsity team and got the school to change the team name to the Ducks). With such a track record, parents would definitely demand similar results for their own children when they join the Ducks.
Stephanie’s pep talk with Alex, when she was doubting herself in light of Bombay returning to coaching, makes it seem like she’s on a path to redeeming herself. However, it makes perfect sense that she wants Alex, with no coaching skills, running the team instead of Bombay. Which one of the two has experience taking a ragtag team of players and turning them into a powerhouse that upsets the once dominant leader?
None of the original Ducks who reunited in episode 6 went on to play professional hockey. For example, Adam Banks, who was a star player on both the Hawks and the Ducks, became a public defender. It shows just how difficult (and rare) it is for even great youth players to become professional athletes. In addition, the original Ducks were a local district Pee-Wee hockey team, far from the elite hockey organization with college recruiters, expensive training camps, and professional trainers that the Mighty Ducks evolved into.
While it could be that Banks simply just wasn't good enough to make the pros despite his talent, or even simply choose not to there's also a 3rd explanation. Banks had been seriously injured in both the first film (where he was slammed into the goalpost and concussed) and in D2 (where Sanderson of team Iceland injured his wrist and then injured it AGAIN in the last game). While it healed well enough for it to not trouble him in D3 while he was still a teenager, serious injuries when someone is young even if they seem to fully heal can cause arthritic problems and other forms of break down much earlier than you'd expect even as early as their 20s. So it could simply be that by the time Banks was old enough to try for the pros his wrist injury from D2 was acting up and he couldn't perform at a high enough level anymore, or a Doctor recommended he not play anymore due to lasting damage from the concussion he received in the first film. Of course it could also simply be that Banks was totally fine and either still wasn't good enough or simply didn't have interest in going pro anymore.
How did the Hawks go from a nigh-unbeatable powerhouse to the laughingstock of the league? Probably because of Reilly. Remember what he told his team during their championship game against the O.G. Ducks? "You blow this game and nobody makes the team next year!" Most likely he made good on his word and deep-sixed his entire team, meaning that the Hawks would've had to rebuild from scratch. If they didn't get any good players or a good coach (or worse, if they had Reilly being an asshole to them), they wouldn't have reached the level of the other teams.
Alex rejects the nickname "Coach A"... because she doesn't want to be like Coach T.
