Unmade Movie Sequels: The Mighty Ducks 4

Unmade Movie Sequels is a series of synopsis' from popular hockey movies we wish were made.

After winning the JV-Varsity Showdown at Eden Hall in D3, the Ducks would live as high school gods at the prep school. Thanks to winning national championships in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 against state rival Shattuck-Saint Mary's, the team would be heavily recruited at the collegiate level, but would only commit to a school that could take the entire team. It is also noted that the Ducks were sought after by the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, but the team refused to go live and train in Michigan, opting to stay in Minnesota.

Many teams were unwilling to accommodate the Ducks outrageous proposition to take on an entire team of freshmen (Connie Moreau and Julie "The Cat" Gaffney would have to play for a women's team at the NCAA level), but in the end the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs would agree to free up enough roster space to allow the Ducks to attend the school and play hockey for them. The Ducks decision would be aided by the persuasion of Minnesota-Duluth alumni, Brett Hull, who was making the mandatory NHL player cameo required in all The Mighty Ducks movies. 

In one of D4's first scenes, the Ducks are shown at a team gathering to celebrate their acceptance into Minnesota-Duluth and this proves to be one of the most emotional scenes in the entire series as one by one the team confides secrets in one another. It is revealed that Guy Germaine has proposed to Connie Moreau, Dean Portman has been in and out of juvenile detention centres, Luis Mendoza has an STD from the cheerleader at the end of D3, Greg Goldberg has been battling an eating disorder despite growing to 6'5", Julie is pregnant following her summer trip to Europe, and Lester Averman announces he is a homosexual. This opening scene ultimately reveals the transition the team will be taking from adolescence to adulthood while at college.

Charlie puts on the Freshman Forty

Many characters return for D4 including: Adam Banks, Charlie Conway, Russ Tyler, Fulton Reed, Ken Wu, and Dwayne Robertson while Connie and Julie make brief appearances as puck bunnies at the mens games. As the team arrives at the college, they realize they are in for a fun four years as they are quickly rookie'd by the remaining four veterans on the team at a toga party. The peer pressures of underage drinking and recreational drug use quickly become key subplots that will remain throughout the movie with many players partaking in beer funnelling and bong hits - who knew Kenny Wu had such great lung capacity!

The team arrives for their first practice hungover and in rough shape which is not a good first impression on their coach, Jack Reilly, the same coach of the Hawks from D1 whose youth hockey success has finally been recognized. It is also revealed that the team will be joined by an imported player, none other than Icelandic star, Gunnar Stahl, who has moved to Minnesota to be closer to Julie "The Cat" Gaffney after finally scoring on her and knocking her up. A new Ducks generation will soon be born!

After a sluggish practice and first game, Charlie Conway's leadership prevails as he confronts the team's new found partying ways and announces the team is showing signs of a real problem and not just recreational use. It is decided that the team will do a Dry Island and bond together as a team to deal with Portman's anger issues, Mendoza's STDs, Goldberg's eating disorder, Julie's pregnancy and Averman's coming out. A montage of team building including the team playing laser tag on ice leads into highlights of the Bulldogs continuously winning games meaning they are once again an unstoppable force and destined for another national championship. 

It's no coincidence Coach Bombay's
character is named after a brand of gin

As the team approaches the championship game and the players have dealt with their personal issues, the players are rattled to hear that former coach and mentor, Gordon Bombay, has been involved in a drinking and driving accident following a messy divorce from the Duck's former tutor at the Junior Goodwill Games, Michelle McKay. Clinging to life, the team visits a comatose Coach Bombay in hospital just hours before the championship game. The nurse attending to Bombay explains his grave condition and that it will take a miracle for him to wake again. The team knows they have to go out and win it for their coach who took them under his wing back in 1992 when they were just a bunch of scrubs from District 5, even if he was just serving community service.

The team takes to the ice for the championship for the first time as the Minnesota-Duluth Ducks and play an emotional game against their state rivals, the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Led by Hobey Baker nominee, Adam Banks, and backstopped by a transformed Goldberg, the Ducks defeat the Golden Gophers 5-4 after scoring with 1 second left on the clock by Charlie Conway's new breakaway move - the quadruple deke. The team celebrates to a home crowd chant of "quack, quack, quack" as the scene transitions to Bombay opening his eyes. 

THE END