Summary

• Coach Orion's advice teaches the Ducks about balance in D3.
• "CAKE-EATER!" is an iconic insult that highlights the divide between affluent Hawks and Ducks.
• The team's unity is showcased through their iconic quacking chant.

In The Mighty Ducks trilogy of movies, the underdog hockey team overcoming all the odds is lauded, and it's done with plenty of iconic Mighty Ducks team quotes. Released by Disney in the '90s and now on Disney+, The Mighty Ducks and its sequels follow a team of kids who love the sport of hockey. Initially, the group of kids is on one of the losingest teams in their district and doesn't have a coach who cares about the sport. Emilio Esteves plays Gordon Bombay, who, after a few missteps, helps them turn their game around and become champions.

The sequels took the team to prestigious sporting events and expensive schools on hockey scholarships. After D3: The Mighty Ducks was released in 1996, another live-action project wouldn't be made for 25 years: a Disney+ spinoff series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. Cast members from the original movies reprised their roles as adults. It was canceled and removed from Disney+ in 2023. Despite the removal of the modern series, fans of the movies can still relive the original trilogytoday and hear these iconic Mighty Ducks quotes again.

The Mighty Ducks trilogy is available to stream on Disney+.

13 "You Have No Idea How Low I Can Stoop."

Gordon Bombay, The Mighty Ducks

When the audience first meets the savvy lawyer, Bombay is someone who will do anything for a win.

This particular Mighty Ducks quote comes from Gordon Bombay early on in the first movie. It's when he's still caught up in his win-at-all-cost attitude and still practicing law. It's in response to a fellow attorney accusing him of stooping to a new low. When the audience first meets the savvy lawyer, Bombay is someone who will do anything for a win.

His idea that winning is necessary at all times even carries over into his hockey games, where he encourages the team members to fake injuries and fall over to earn them penalty shots. It takes him a little while to overcome this mentality, but this line works as a reminder to the audience of just how much he actually changes while coaching the first group of kids in the movie.

12 "Don't Be Careless, But Don't Be Too Careful Either."

Ted Orion, D3: The Mighty Ducks

Gordon Bombay isn't the only coach the Ducks have throughout the movie trilogy. One that they butt heads with the most is Coach Ted Orion (Jeffrey Nordling) of the third part of the trilogy. He's not exactly as "fun" as the Ducks are used to, and doesn't turn everything into a game for them, which is a method that has always helped them to engage in their practice drills.

That doesn't mean the team doesn't learn a lot from him. He helps them learn more about defensive strategies and helps them learn when to pull back from their flashier movies. Orion also recognizes that he and the team need to find a way to meet in the middle, somewhere between his cautious approach and their careless approach to hockey, which prompts this instruction when he hopes the team will win in a big game.

11 "CAKE-EATER!"

Repeated By Mighty Ducks Team Members, The Mighty Ducks Trilogy

The Mighty Ducks certainly had some creative insults for its cast of characters to use. One of the most often used Mighty Ducks quotes is actually one of those insults coined by the kids in the first movie: "cake-eater." It's used specifically to highlight the difference between the more affluent families whose children play for the Hawks, and the less wealthy who play for the Ducks.

Members of the Ducks team frequently use the term as an insult against members of the Hawks team, and even against Adam Banks (Vincent Larusso) when he's first made a member of their team because he's been playing in the wrong district for the youth hockey league. The term likely references Marie Antoinette's famous, "let them eat cake," quote, but it also eventually becomes an in-joke between Banks and his teammates as there isn't any malice in its later use.

10 "A Team Isn't A Bunch Of Kids Out To Win; A Team Is Something You Belong To, Something You Feel, Something You Have To Earn."

Gordon Bombay, The Mighty Ducks

It takes Gordon Bombay nearly half the first movie to figure this particular Mighty Ducks quote out. It's a line that, when contrasted with his "how low I can stoop" comment, really demonstrates how much working with the kids has changed him. When he discovers Mr. Ducksworth (Josef Ducksworth) is willing to sell Gordon out for the Hawks to stay happy, he makes a decision.

Gordon understands the family that comes from being a team — even if he's an adult among a group of preteens. He treats all of the kids like they're his family. They don't just practice and go to games together; this team is together as the best of friends all the time. Gordon no longer wants to cheat his way to a positive outcome, and he realizes he can't make other adults understand how important team camaraderie is.

9 "You Came 2,000 Miles To Make Fun Of Me? You Could Have Done That Over The Phone."

Gordon Bombay, D2: The Mighty Ducks

While the kids of the movies tend to alternate between being all-play-and-no-work and wanting to buckle down and win, it's really Gordon who often gets caught up in the glitz and glamour of professional sports. He's used to working as a slick lawyer who bends the rules and gets high praise, so it's easy to fall back into those habits.

He could be busy wheeling and dealing, completely changing his approach to coaching without realizing it. In D2: The Mighty Ducks, that's what happens. He has to be brought down to earth by his team and by Jan (Jan Rubes), who helped make his hockey dreams come true as a kid. Gordon always seems to need a little push to make sure he goes in the right direction, and when he realizes the error of his ways, he usually gets a funnier Mighty Ducks quote or two.

8 "YOU'RE NOT A HAS-BEEN. YOU'RE A NEVER WAS."

Jack Reilly, The Mighty Ducks

Though the kids face a lot of antagonists in the movies, the original villain — Coach Reilly (Lane Smith) of the Hawks — is the worst. He is all about winning, and he doesn't care if he destroys the dreams of kids to do it. Coach Reilly rules his team with an iron fist and he encourages his players to be cruel to teams he sees as lesser than the Hawks.

His insults hold a lot of venom, like this one aimed at Gordon concerning his hockey career. Reilly knows Bombay from the latter's own time as a hockey player in youth sports and knows what his potential was. At this point, Gordon has embraced the kids and his coaching in the first movie, but it still stings that he never went pro himself, so Reilly's words hit him especially hard.

7 "I Hate Ties. They're Like Kissing Your Brother."

Julie Gaffney, D3: The Mighty Ducks

Julie (Colombe Jacobsen) isn't a part of the team in the first movie, but is introduced as "The Cat" in D2. She's got great reflexes and wants to be the team's main goalie. Initially, she doesn't get to do much other than compete with Goldberg (Shaun Weiss) for that goalie spot. It's not until D3 that fans get to see a bit more of her personality. One of the moments to best showcase it happens to be one of the most memorable Mighty Ducks quotes.

When the varsity goalie at their fancy new prep school wants to call them even, she declines his offer. Julie knows her worth on and off the ice, and she isn't about to declare an imaginary level playing field for herself and the competition when the game isn't even over.

6 "And When The Wind Blows Hard And The Sky Is Black — Ducks Fly Together!"

Michelle McKay, D2: The Mighty Ducks

There's a point in every Mighty Ducks movie where the team finds themselves at a crossroads, fighting among themselves or with the authority figures around them. They are teenagers, in a highly competitive world who also want the chance to live their lives, so it's natural for conflict to rise. In the second movie, a divide between the team and Bombay as well as the pressure of performing on a world stage gets to them.

Luckily, they have their tutor (Kathryn Erbe) in their corner. She helps remind them what it's like to be kids, and not just hockey players. She also reminds them of the importance of being united in the face of the difficulties they're facing, providing not just a great Mighty Ducks quote, but an entire speech for the team that boosts their spirits in the locker room.

5 "To Think I Wasted All These Years Worrying About What You Thought."

Gordon Bombay, The Mighty Ducks

...it marks the true culmination of his character arc in the first movie...

When the Ducks and Hawks go head-to-head in the first film, it's not just a tense stand-off for the kids, but a clash of ideologies between the coaches. Gordon realizes that Reilly's philosophy of winning — and needing to win big — is one that doesn't make the game fun for the kids. It also tends to turn the kids into bullies. It's also the philosophy he used to have himself, so it marks the true culmination of his character arc in the first movie when he realizes it.

Gordon finally gets the chance to tell Reilly that it doesn't matter whether the latter thinks he's a great hockey player anymore. Gordon has officially moved on from what a cruel coach in his childhood thought of him. This quote is a cathartic moment for both the character and the audience.

4 "A Quarter Of An Inch The Other Way And You Would Have Missed Completely."

Charlie Conway, The Mighty Ducks

When the team learns that Gordon Bombay played as a former Hawk in his youth in the first movie, most of them are ready to cut ties with him completely. Charlie (Joshua Jackson), however, is not. The two of them become closer over the course of the trilogy, with Gordon becoming a father figure for Charlie. So, when Gordon talks about what hockey was like for him, he listens to Gordon's story of missing a goal by just a smidge during a championship game.

Gordon laments the loss by so little, but Charlie sees the silver lining. Gordon got to play in a game and came so close to making the winning shot that he should be proud of his achievement. Charlie might be the face of the team, but he doesn't get a lot of the best Mighty Ducks quotes, so his having this optimistic one is a nice touch for the team captain.

3 "I'm No Lady. I'm A Duck!"

Connie Moreau, D2: The Mighty Ducks

There are never more than two girls on the team at a time in The Mighty Ducks movies. Tammy (Jane Plank), who is actually training to be a figure skater originally, leaves after the first movie and Julie comes on board, but Connie (Marguerite Moreau) is there throughout all three movies. She's the only original female player on the team (and even makes an appearance in Game Changers).

Though she's often seen as just Guy's (Garette Ratliff Henson) love interest in the first two movies, she's also a fierce hockey player who is incredibly loyal to her teammates. Connie appreciates it when Dwayne (Ty O'Neal) stands up for her in D2, but she proves on her own that she's as strong of a player as the boys with a shove and one of the best Mighty Ducks quotes from its female players.

2 "You Cannot Be Afraid To Lose. That's How You Gain The Confidence To Attack The Puck When The Game Isn't Yours."

Ted Orion, D3: The Mighty Ducks

D3 might not be the favorite of the trilogy among fans, but it does feature this nugget of wisdom (and quite a few other geat Mighty Ducks quotes). The Ducks spend the first movie learning how to win, but they gain the confidence of winners quickly, forgetting what it means to really take risks on the ice. They spend a lot of time sticking to the formations that they know have worked for them in the past and not engaging in more intensive drills.

In the third movie, Coach Orion spends a lot of time teaching the team not only defense but humility. He helps them learn what it means to go all out in a game, not just try to get the puck in the net, and it makes the team better people outside the rink as well.

1 "QUACK, QUACK, QUACK!"

Repeated By Mighty Ducks Team Members, The Mighty Ducks Trilogy

It was a sound that made the opponents know that the team was united.

The quacking might seem nonsensical to some, and it likely got on the nerves of parents watching the movies with their kids in the '90s, but the sound made the team a unifying force. It was a sound that made the opponents know that the team was united. It's also the most iconic of Mighty Ducks quotes.

When the kids fight in the first movie but come together to quack at their principal, they realize they're all on the same side. Gordon quacks his way out of a job when he realizes profits are always going to be more important than people. The quacking is a reminder of where the kids come from and what they mean to one another as the movies continue. The quirky team chant gets used in Game Changers as a Mighty Ducks movie callback as well.