Heartwarming / The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers

• Alex and Evan butt heads sometimes, but they have a very functional, supportive relationship. Notably, even though Alex is often let down by Evan's dad, she tries to shield him from most of the things his dad does that will hurt and disappoint him and absorbs the blows for him so he doesn't have to be traumatized.
  • Her reaction when he fires her is definitely a Pet the Dog moment; she's just lost it on the Don't Bothers and knows she's messed up, and instead of trying to convince Evan otherwise she respects his wishes and lets him move on.
• Maya and Lauren display solidarity with one another by going to school in each other's style of dress – most notably, Maya is dressed like a warrior princess the way Lauren does – to demonstrate their newfound status as True Companions.
  • Most notably, throughout the series, Lauren becomes more and more accepted, but the focus is never on her becoming less nerdy – by the time the team goes to States, she, Sofi and Maya are all ready to have a Girls Weekend, and they accept Lauren as she is, cape and all. It's never about her magically becoming a girlier, more fashionable girl.
• Knowing Connie and Guy got married? Sweet. Knowing they have kids? Even sweeter. Knowing one of them is named after Gordon? Way too sweet.
• Nick immediately drops his jealousy of Logan when he realizes how much Logan struggles to be happy with his new life – and makes up for his jealous behaviour by devising a play that will have Logan score the game-winning goal.
• In turn, Logan tells Nick that he's jealous of Nick's family life because he has a "real family" – despite Nick being a kid with two moms, all Logan sees is a loving, supportive family.
  • Indeed, Nick's moms are insanely supportive, gladly taking part in the moms challenge, never pushing their son too much and being welcoming to his friends. Nick lampshades this by saying his moms are most likely to have an encouraging, pleasant conversation with any of the kids.
• When Alex starts berating the team for ignoring her plan to win the game by sneaking Logan onto the ice, Logan begins apologizing. Evan tells Logan he has nothing to apologize for. His goal was awesome and it sent the Don't Bothers to the playoffs.
• Despite being an Alpha Bitch and Bitch in Sheep's Clothing for most of the series, Stephanie is genuinely touched by Alex listening to her problems, admits that she is obsessed with one-upmanship and tells Alex plainly that she raised a good son. She then offers her some gourmet cheese, and when she learns that Alex needs to defend Bombay in front of the NCAA tribunal, she drives them and stands by Alex and Bombay in support.
• Sofi suffers a Game-Breaking Injury to her knee and is practically in tears from the pain, but insists on playing rather than having the Don’t Bothers forfeit because of her. Evan, followed by the rest of the team, announce that they won’t play, so the forfeit is on them.
  • The second player behind Evan to drop his stick in solidarity? Sam, who is very familiar with pushing the limits of his body from being crazy and crashing into things. Even he recognizes the seriousness of Sofi’s situation.
  • That Sofi's parents, who have spent basically the whole season pushing her to excel and stand-out outside of a few Pet the Dog moments, showing zero hesitation in agreeing that she should sit out and the Ducks should forfeit. They don't stop pushing her, but it's absolutely clear that her risking her long-term health by playing on that knee is several bridges too far for them.
• Koob goes from spending hours isolated in his basement to singing the National Anthem in front of his beaming parents before the pickup game.
• Down 3-1 during the second intermission, Sofi cheers everyone up by reminding them that even if they lose and have to disband, they already won because they proved that it's possible to be a competitive hockey team and have fun at the same time. Everyone else agrees and shares the other ways they've won (Logan finding a new group of friends to help him through his parents' divorce, Nick getting to actually play hockey rather than just watch, Evan realizing there's more to life than the Ducks and how great his mom is, etc.) Alex then tells the kids she does honestly believe they can still win this game and tells them to go out and win it for each other. Finally, as one last bit of motivation, Gordon reveals he has the original Ducks players' jerseys in possession and gives them to the kids to wear on the ice.
• The Don't Bothers beat the Ducks in their pickup game and Stephanie agrees to uphold the terms of the bet, meaning that the Ducks moniker is back with Gordon Bombay and his Ragtag Bunch of Misfits where it belongs.
• In the Season 2 premiere, we see Fulton Reed's newest construction gig: demolishing the Ice Palace. Who's helping him out? His fellow bash brother, Dean Portman. True Companions indeed.