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This Duck is laced up and ready to defend the net again.
After three decades away from the ice hockey rink, The Mighty Ducks star Shaun Weiss shared a series of photos of himself in a familiar getup in an Instagram post Sunday. Decked out in a black, green, yellow, and purple Ducks jersey, plus bulky goalie pads and a protective helmet, he added in the caption, “Last time I skated was the final day of filming D3. It’s like riding a bike. With bones that have aged 30 years.”
He also thanked the sponsor of an advertisement he’s filming for in Ducks gear for “giving me a reason to lace up,” while striking a series of poses.
Shaun Herman Weiss/Instagram; Buena Vista Pictures/courtesy Everett
Weiss, 45, is best known for starring in the three live-action films of the Mighty Ducks franchise. He played Greg Goldberg, the youth hockey team’s goalie. Initially portrayed as lazy and competition-averse, Goldberg slowly gains confidence over the course of the trilogy to become an invaluable player.
In one of the first film’s most memorable scenes, Coach Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) ties Goldberg to the goal he’s supposed to be guarding and orders players to fire pucks at him in order to conquer his fear of goaltending. “My mother would not approve of this, coach,” Goldberg protests. “She’d like me to live to be bar mitzvahed.”
Bombay replies, “This is your bar mitzvah, Goldberg!”
That film’s sequel, D2: The Mighty Ducks, maintains as loyal of a fan base as the first movie. D2 celebrated its 30th anniversary in March, and stars like Kenan Thompson publicly commemorated the occasion. “My first acting gig and it mayyyy or may not have been my first time skating too,” he wrote on Instagram. “Let that be a lesson, folks!!! #FakeItTillYaMakeIt.”
Weiss celebrated his own important anniversary in 2022: the two-year milestone of his decision to get sober. Weiss had battled addiction for years, looking nearly unrecognizable in a 2018 mugshot after being arrested for a residential burglary.
In 2021, he posted side-by-side driver’s license photos that showed him in the throes of addiction and then sober. “RECOVERY IS POSSIBLE,” Weiss wrote.
Beyond the Ducks movies, Weiss’ screen credits include Heavyweights, The Tony Danza Show, The King of Queens, and Freaks and Geeks.
Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett
Meanwhile, a Mighty Ducks reboot series ran for two seasons on on Disney+, from 2021 to 2022. While Weiss didn’t return for The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, original franchise star Estevez returned for the first season, with Elden Henson, Matt Doherty, Vinny La Russo, Marguerite Moreau, Garret Henson, and Justin Wong appearing in a special reunion episode.
