Kenan Thompson has revealed he nearly quit acting at age 15 because of how gruelling it was to learn ice hockey for D2: The Mighty Ducks. Speaking on Amy Poehler's Good Hang podcast, the Saturday Night Live star said he had only listed roller skating as a special skill on his résumé and had never anticipated needing to play hockey when he was cast as Russ Tyler in the 1994 sequel. It was his mother's insistence that he stick with it, rather than give up on his acting career altogether, that kept him going.

Thompson recalled wanting to walk away entirely after a brutal first day of hockey camp, which fell on his 15th birthday, but went on to complete eight weeks of training across D2 and its 1996 follow-up, D3: The Mighty Ducks, eventually mastering ice skating. Poehler, his former SNL castmate from 2003 to 2008, praised his skills as "incredible", recalling watching him perform tricks forwards, backwards and sideways on the rink outside Rockefeller Center after a Christmas show, while Thompson noted pride in excelling at a sport with few Black participants at elite level.