Mighty Ducks: Game Changers Recruits Josh Duhamel to Play New Coach in Season 2, Replacing Emilio Estevez

A new coach will hit the ice when The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers returns for Season 2.

Disney+ announced Monday that Josh Duhamel has joined the cast as Gavin Cole, a former NHL player-turned-coach who runs the super-intense summer hockey institute where the series is set this season. Described as inspirational, charming and hardcore, Cole is “big on the hockey metaphor that applies to life.”

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The news comes after it was previously announced that Emilio Estevez would not be returning as Gordon Bombay next season. Estevez shut down reports that his departure had anything to do with COVID protocols, saying that “my exit from the show was due to a myriad of creative differences — any other narrative is false.”

Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith will return as showrunners for Season 2 and executive-produce alongside series creator Steve Brill, Lauren Graham, George Heller, Brad Petrigala, and Jordan Kerner and Jon Avnet.

Season 1 ended with the Don’t Bothers forfeiting the state championship game due to Sofi’s injury and later defeating the Ducks in an unsanctioned matchup that ended with them winning ownership of the coveted team moniker.

Kenan Thompson, who played Russ Tyler in the Mighty Ducks films, previously expressed interest in appearing in Season 2.

“I would love to do it if they can figure it out,” Thompson told TVLine. “I told [Brill] I wanted to do Season 1, but they ended up having to do it without my participation [due to scheduling]. There’s only one me. I can only be in one place at a time.”

How do you feel about Josh Duhamel joining Mighty Ducks: Game Changers? What do you hope to see in Season 2? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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