Josh Duhamel is coming in for the assist.
The actor made his The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers debut in the season two trailer, released by Disney+ on Aug. 31. Duhamel plays Gavin Cole, an intense coach who's in charge of the elite LA hockey summer camp Epic, a.k.a. the setting of season two. Led by single mom + Morrow (Lauren Graham), the Ducks (formerly the Don't Bothers) show up for a summer of fun and new friends, but are in for a rude awakening when former NHL player Cole promises to make the kids into "legends"—putting them through intense workouts and practices along the way.
But naturally, the team is determined to come out on top, and play even harder than before. Plus, if our eyes don't deceive us, some sparks seem to fly between Cole and Morrow.
"I just needed to let you know," Morrow tells Cole, "that I'm going to take you down."
"I'm sorry," Cole responds sarcastically, "Was that trash talk?"
"I think so," Morrow says, upbeat.
"You're not very good at it," Cole quips. It seems like these two will melt even the iciest of hearts.
Duhamel is replacing Emilio Estevez, who reprised his iconic Mighty Ducks film role of Gordon Bombay to coach the team for season one. News broke that he wouldn't be returning to the show in Nov. 2021, when it was reported that the production studio chose not to renew Estevez's contract because the actor wouldn't comply with the COVID-19 vaccination policy. Days later, Estevez shut down the allegation, telling Deadline that he chose not to come back to the show due to a "contract dispute and not, as some would believe, an anti-vaccine position."
Season one of the series followed a new group of underdog hockey players, who come together after 12-year-old Evan Morrow (Brady Noon) was cut from the now-popular Mighty Ducks team. By the end of the season, the rag-tag group had defeated the all-star team and won the Ducks name.
Season two of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers premieres Sept. 28 on Disney+.