With the State Tournament on the horizon, Alex realizes she likes winning more than she thought.
Tropes:
- A Day in the Limelight: The B-plot focuses on Logan and Nick, with the latter being jealous of Logan having it all — looks, girls, and with Gordon's help, a signature hockey move — and the former revealing his own jealousy of Nick and his loving family.
- Analogy Backfire: Big time. When Gordon starts teaching Logan how to skate, he says it will soon be like riding a bike. Turns out Logan doesn't know how to ride a bike either.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: Alex offers Evan and Sofi nachos. Except it's a new recipe... broccoli instead of chips, and no cheese. Because she's trying superfoods.
- Became Their Own Antithesis: The combination of the Don't Bothers' recent success and the satisfaction that she's getting under the Ducks' skin causes Alex to become a Drill Sergeant Nasty, just like Coach T.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Nick is so used to having two loving parents who make a point of having dinner with the whole family together every night that he didn't realize that some kids, like Logan, don't get to have that.
- Good Luck Charm: Koob believes wearing the same pair of socks is behind the team's win streak, and convinces the rest of the team to follow suit. Eventually they get tired of it and ditch the socks, forcing Koob to do the same.
- Koob later reveals that he had hidden his socks in his helmet, just in case.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Nick and Logan have this for each other. Nick because of Logan's looks, the attention he gets from girls, and, most recently, the personal training he's getting from Gordon and Logan because of Nick having a loving family.
- History Repeats:
- Nick's first goal plays out very similarly to Goldberg's in the third film, particularly when he freezes up after getting the puck and afterwards tells Evan not to do that to him again.
- A team that has Gordon Bombay as a coach finds themselves having to defeat the Huskies in their last game of the season to qualify for the playoffs.
- Furthermore, a team that started out as a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits and is now on a winning streak has a coach who's increasingly obsessed with winning, just like the Ducks.
- Hypocrite: Alex's interview on TV where she talks about how she started the Don't Bothers and that their success is due to their focus on fun is undercut by the fact she's started pushing the kids into training more like the Ducks. Lauren acknowledges it quite nicely as the kids watch the interview.Lauren: What a load of crap.
- Ignored Expert: Alex is so caught up in trying to make the playoffs, that she ignores Gordon's advice to put Logan in the game. Nick has to resort to trickery to get him on the ice.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Logan's parents showered him with expensive gifts during their bitter divorce, explaining why he has awesome hockey equipment and, at the start of the season, no hockey skills. What he actually longs for is a loving and stable family, making him jealous of Nick.
- Not So Above It All: Maya initially refuses to participate in the team's "wearing the same socks" superstition because she finds it gross and ridiculous. Eventually, she caves under peer pressure and is both surprised and horrified when she starts playing better afterwards.Maya: I scored, I scored! [Beat] Crap, it's the socks...
- Not What I Signed on For: After Alex berates the team following a victory, Sofi says that the Don't Bothers are no longer the team she joined, especially since they're becoming more like the Ducks whom she left because she was sick of the ultra competitive environment.
- Oh, Crap!: Nick is positively alarmed at the possibility of taking a potential game-winning shot; indeed, the scene plays out more like a Dream Sequence (complete with Inner Monologue and slow-motion development) than an actual hockey play.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Logan nets the winning goal for the Don't Bothers and they qualify for the playoffs. Unfortunately, Alex berates the team because they went against her plan, showing she has gone off the deep end.
- Stalker without a Crush: A lesser example, given that Logan lives across the street and he spends a lot of time in the kitchen, which faces Nick's house, but his description of Nick's loving family is very specific, down to watching them eat spaghetti and getting it on their clothes.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: With the excitement of being on a winning streak, Alex becomes a control freak who throws a fit when a victory doesn't go exactly the way she wanted.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Alex's behavior in the episode isn't helped by Sofi's parents encouraging her to adopt some of the Ducks' methods so the Don't Bothers can continue their recent string of success.
- Truth in Television: Logan's new signature move taught to him by Gordon is an actual hockey strategy, most famously used by the University of Michigan
. - Wham Line: At the end of the episode, after Alex berates the team for not listening to her and storms off, Evan comes to the following conclusion after seeing his teammates' reactions.Evan: I have to fire my mom.
