Remembering Rob Guinn

November 8, 7:04 PMAlbuquerque Hockey ExaminerHeather Pillman

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Rob Guinn served as the New Mexico Scorpions captain in the 2006-2007 season.
Photo courtesy of Alex Mansfield

As New Mexico hockey fans settle in for a season without professional hockey, they find themselves reminiscing about the players who have come through the Albuquerque/Rio Rancho area.

Fans have seen many players come and go in the seasons that the New Mexico Scorpions took to the ice. Some of those players have since hung up the skates to go on to pursue careers in other arenas; a handful of former Scorpions are still playing hockey with other Central Hockey League teams and others have made the move to other professional leagues in North America or Europe. In all of the players that have come through New Mexico during their careers, few left a bigger impression on fans and teammates than defenseman and former team captain, Rob Guinn.
 

Rob Guinn was killed tragically in Iowa in the summer of 2008. He was returning home from a college class when another driver failed to stop at an intersection and hit his car. Rob Guinn was only 32 years old.

"Guinner," as he was known to friends and fans, was a 1994 draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers.  The Ottawa, Ontario native played several places during his career, including Elmira, Fort Wayne, New Mexico and Tulsa, but his time as a Texas Wildcatter in Beaumont, Texas may have been his most memorable. 

It was in Beaumont during the 2003-2004 season that Rob met Brooke, the beautiful college intern who would become his wife.  Brooke had come to Texas to do an internship in community relations with the Wildcatters of the ECHL and it was there that she and Guinn crossed paths.  "Rob was great about getting out in the community, so I began to rely on him when scheduling (team) appearances," Brooke says.  As part of her duties with the team, Brooke accompanied players to their charity and volunteer appearances in the community. The time she and Rob spent  together traveling to and from events gave the couple a chance to talk and really get to know each other.  Rob summoned up the courage to ask Brooke on a date. He spent Thanksgiving that year with Brooke and her extended family and,  by the time Brooke flew home to Iowa for Christmas, it was all over for her.  "I knew he was the man I would marry," she says.

The two left Texas together and dated exclusively through Rob's two seasons in Fort Wayne.  Guinn had two 30+ point seasons in Fort Wayne and spent most of his free time with Brooke.  Brooke recalls that Rob's teammates gave him a hard time about how close he was to her, but that Rob took it in stride.  During each of  their seasons together as a couple, Rob would look to make sure Brooke was in her seat, watching him play.  Fans and teammates may have witnessed the tough hockey player winking at, waving at, or blowing kisses to his wife from the ice.  In Fort Wayne, Guinn also began taking classes to prepare for a nursing career after hockey.  Rob, who had a degree in Sociology with a minor in Business Administration, knew that he wanted to make the transition into a career where he could help people. The nursing field, Brooke says, fit Rob perfectly because of "how caring he was."

Guinner proposed to Brooke that second season in Fort Wayne.  In his typical joking and lighthearted manner, Rob announced to Brooke that he had picked out her "sparkly" Valentine's Day present and then made his wife-to-be wait on pins and needles expecting the proposal.  The two were married in September 2006 and left, Brooke jokes, "to honeymoon in New Mexico."

Guinn, a steady and consistent defenseman, signed with the  New Mexico Scorpions in 2006-2007.  The veteran also served as the team's captain that year and had his best pro season racking up seven goals and 49 assists for 56 points in 64 games.  Not one to shy away from physical play, Guinn also had 90 PIMs during his stint with New Mexico. He took his captain duties seriously and Brooke recalls watching him take the younger players under his wing.  "He opened himself up to the younger guys not only on the ice, but off the ice, too."

The couple had their first full year together as husband and wife in Rio Rancho and Brooke still fondly recalls their time here.  "Everyone was so wonderful while we were there," she recalls.  The couple made fast friends with some of the other veteran players and their wives and girlfriends, with whom Brooke still keeps in touch.

Rob and Brooke were thrilled to find out that they were expecting their first child in the summer of 2007.  Rob signed in 2007-2008 with the Tulsa Oilers and later that same season, because of a desire to be closer to his family, Rob signed  with the Bloomington Prairie Thunder of the IHL.  The decision to be closer to home made it possible for Rob to be with Brooke when their daughter, Olivia, was born.  When Brooke went back to work, Rob and Olivia had three months together at home.  "He was the best father ever.  She (Olivia) was the light of his life and he was so proud to be a dad," says Brooke.

Brooke, who is a devoted full-time mom to the couple's daughter, who will be two in a few months, is thankful for the time that she had with Rob.  She hopes that he will be remembered  for his  determination and dependability as a hockey player and for the man he was both on and off the ice. The man who was a devoted husband and father. The man who knew the value of being a good teammate. The man who believed in living and laughing because life was too short. And the man who, during his first nursing clinical, knew he had found his calling when a non-responsive Alzheimer's patient warmed up to him immediately.   "I want people to know how caring and compassionate he was. He wanted everyone to be the best that they can be.  He was funny and relaxed; one of the wittiest guys you'll ever meet.  He was light hearted and just fun to be around."

A very special thank you to Brooke Guinn.