Login

Loco · 05-15-2020, 03:45 PM

Juan "Júnior" Guarda Casas was born in the outskirts of Tijuana, Mexico. He is the second son of two farmers, Juan Guarda and Benita Casas. From the day he was born, he was always the second. The second Juan Guarda. The second son. When dinner was served, he was given the second portion, after his brother Joaquín. He was second in line to inherit the families farm business. And, after an unlikely chain of events lead his brother to start playing hockey, he became the second Guarda to play hockey.

Júnior, trying to break with following directly in his brothers' footsteps, choose to play goalie. This worked out fine for his older brother, as he got to tee up slapshots on his brother at home, in his journey as a budding offensive defenseman. He shot so hard, that in Júnior's first try out, he was afraid of the puck. He performed incredibly poorly, and was chosen last. This put him on a team with his brother, as the backup goalie, or second goalie if you will. The team was highly successful, and went on to become the best team in Baja. Júnior himself saw some action in blow out wins, in which he finally learned to not to be afraid of the puck, and proved himself to be formidable. The team was then invited to compete in the Pan-California games. They made it all the way to the finals, where they faced a team sponsored by the Anaheim Outlaws themselves. The starting goalie was lit up, giving up 3 goals in 5 minutes. Júnior was sent in to take his place. He held strong, giving up no goals in 55 minutes, and worked hard enough that his team ended up losing 0-3. They had come in second place in the competition.

This was his brother's last game, as he had to go back and begin taking over on the family farm. For Júnior, however, it was the beginning of what should be a promising career. Due to the sponsorship of their opponents, SMJHL scouts were in the building for his 55 minute shutout, and were impressed. He was asked to join the upcoming S54 SMJHL draft, where he hopes to play backup to any of the many rising goaltenders in the league.

And now, some words with Júnior himself.

Are you excited about the draft?
"I am pretty excited, but nervous. I would like to not be picked last again"

What does you family farm?
"Avocados."

What should teams know about you?
"I will try my best..."

A lot of these teams are in cold climates. Have you ever lived anywhere cold?
"No, I have only lived in Baja."

Would you please fill this out, on your feelings for playing for each of these teams?

Outlaws

Anaheim Outlaws: This is the team that sponsored the people who beat us in the tournament... At least Anaheim is close to home. Don't know how I feel about red and white though. Looks like they have two strong goalies I could play behind.
Armada

Anchorage Armada: Anchorage sounds very cold. Cool logo though. 2 goalies who I could maybe play behind too.
Kraken

Carolina Kraken: The logo looks like a fast food place. Maybe fried chicken. I like fried chicken well enough. Only one goalie, so maybe I would slot right into backup.
Raptors

Colorado Raptors: Colorado sounds like a cool place, and probably also less cold than some of the other ones. Also has two big strong goalies.
Falcons

Detroit Falcons: Red and white. They had some dude come up to me. They said their name was Nour or something? I'm pretty sure that that isn't a real name... Not sure why they would lie to me out of the gate. They have 3 goalies? One of them is sleepy?
Knights

Kelowna Knights: Pretty colors I guess? The scout tried to make me eat pineapple on pizza, not good... They also have 3 goalies, I could be the backup backup backup.
Timber

Maine Timber: They have a cool name and 3 goalies. Maine seems as far away from where I am from as possible. (Oh wait this was Halifax. Why did you massacre my boy? Why???)

Newfoundland Berserkers: Wow it's actually further somehow. Not quite the Halifax Raiders but still pretty cool. They have 2 goalies, so maybe I could be a good backup.

St. Louis Scarecrows: The worst colors, the worst logo. Two goalies again, so maybe I would fit. But the uniform...
Whalers

Vancouver Whalers: Back to the west coast finally. Looks like they have 3 goalies, maybe they want a 4th? I like the colors and the logo, which appears to be the only thing I can talk about.

Thanks for your time.
"sure."