Kenan Thompson Reflects on The Mighty Ducks Movies
Photo courtesy: Walt Disney Pictures
How does a star from NBC’s Saturday Night Live get excited hearing about a Hershey Bears player? It happened at an appearance last week at Shippensburg University by Kenan Thompson. In an interview with ChocolateHockey.com’s Matt Trust, the SNL comedian had an enthusiastic response upon hearing the story of Bears’ forward Nathan Walker.
Now if you ask any athlete, there’s a chance they identify with a certain movie. The baseball player may relate to “Bull Durham” and competitive cheerleaders can identify to the spirited film “Bring it On”.
For Washington Capitals 2014 Draft Pick Nathan Walker, his identity growing up in Australia was with Disney’s “Mighty Ducks” series. In 2013, Walker debuted with the Hershey Bears, making him the first ever Australian hockey player in the American Hockey League. This past season Walker played a combined 34 games between Hershey and ECHL South Carolina before a season ending knee injury.
Kenan Thompson (right) with our writer, Matt Trust.
Thompson made the term “knuckle-puck” famous after his role as Russ Tyler in 1994’s D2: The Mighty Ducks. When Thompson learned of Walker’s story, and the indirect influence he had on the 21-year-old’s professional career, he had an immediate response. “That’s awesome,” said Thompson with a laugh. “Whenever people mention it was a big part of guiding them into hockey and being good kids, it’s a great thing.”
“Those Mighty Duck movies are serious for anyone that wants to play hockey. It’s one of those things, kind of like Gleaming the Cube was for skateboarders.”
The 36-year-old Thompson, a 12-year SNL veteran, is now one of the longest running members of the 40-year-old comedy show. Last year marked the 20th anniversary of D2: The Mighty Ducks release – the series first sequel. Reflecting back, Thompson told Trust, “It’s become a great honor. There are so many bigger characters in that movie than mine, so it’s really a pleasure for me to be involved in it.”