The Robert Sharpe Suspension Needs a Deep Rewind

[Matt_O 896]

It's the year 2007, a time so ancient in VHL history that finding an exact date is borderline impossible, and finding exact details is like finding a needle in a haystack. The S1 draft had just taken place and brought a lot of controversy with it. The Amstel Tigers shockingly drafted Robert Sharpe first overall, ahead of the likes of Maxim Desny and Scotty Campbell. This alone brought controversy over who should have been first overall, but what happened after this was the real shocker. Robert Sharpe was banned from earning TPE for an entire season, but why? This needs a deep rewind.

 

 

Many people do not know about the ESHL. Only a handful of guys still around today were involved in it, and no more than 20 people likely are aware of its existence. The ESHL (Extreme Simulation Hockey League) was the league before the VHL that started it all. Players such as Scotty Campbell, David Knight, and Matt Pogge came from the ESHL after it was shut down. The main reason for the leagues failure was the sim engine. The ESHL used the EA Sports NHL franchise on Playstation , which was good at first but its flaws began to show after five or six seasons. With the modern day VHL, we use PC-based STHS, which has been a reliable sim engine for over 65 seasons.

 

Now thats how the league started, from the ashes of the ESHL. But how did Sharpe come into the picture? Well, shortly after the ESHL's closing, a member by the name of Pombo_22 was looking for help in creating another sim league. @sterling sent him a message and they worked together, along with Kevin Brooks, to create what we now know as the Victory Hockey League. Pombo_22 goes by a different name now, one more recognizable to the masses, @Beketov.

 

 

The league was growing awfully fast, and there were 80 players in the first ever VHL draft. The first overall pick was debated, but many said that Campbell would go first. Those who didn't think Campbell would be first overall had Maxim Desny going first overall. The Wranglers had the first overall pick, but promptly traded it to Amstel in exchange for the sixth overall pick and other picks. Now owning the first overall pick, the Tigers decided to make a very risky move.

 

Sharpe had largely been considered a mid second rounder by many, and when Amstel Tigers GM JJ Krever announced that Sharpe would be the first overall pick, it opened up a massive controversy. The fact that he passed on Campbell and Desny, the two guys who were up for the first overall pick, was shocking. Many members were shocked, including netminder Matt Pogge, who fell down to ninth overall, and Scotty Boulet, who fell to sixth overall. Things were bad for Sharpe. It somehow got worse.

 

Just days before the inaugural season began, the Commissioner of the VHL Kevin Brooks announced an investigation into Sharpe. They had found a graphic he made for the VHL that was identical to a graphic made in a separate league, just with a different render and name. This sparked even more controversy around Sharpe, and it only got worse. They found more of these ripped off graphics, which he had been claiming TPE for. The Commissioners implemented the "three strike rule", where Sharpe was made an example of what not to do. It was the Commissioners way of flexing his muscles and showing that they are serious about the league, and won't tolerate any nonsense. Sharpe was banned from earning point tasks for the entire first season.

 

 "I firmly stand by the fact that it was a bit of a ridiculous punishment and people have completely done worse since without getting any kind of punishment. The rules were also pretty grey at the time (this is what created the wording of “100% original” that we have now) but by the time I came around to defend myself everyone had already decided I was apparently the anti-Christ."

-Robert Sharpe

 

While many believed Sharpe would be a bust before the suspension happened, that was the icing on the cake. Sharpe considered leaving the league, before Scotty Campbell talked him back into it. We can be forever grateful that he came back, and perhaps the league would look far different contributions of the account behind the contentious Sharpe, Beketov.

 

After the suspension, this rule was never used again. The Sharpe player agency moved on, and brought in new legends such as Alexander Beketov, and now they have their newest player Matt Thompson. Robert Sharpe will forever be known as one of the biggest busts of all time, although things could have been different if it weren't for the suspension.
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Thanks to Robert Sharpe for giving us his take on the suspension

Special thanks to @sterling for his work on the VHL 20 for 20 series, which was extremely helpful for this article.

[Beketov 8,642]

41 minutes ago, Matt_O said:

Well, shortly after the ESHL's closing, a member by the name of Pombo_22 was looking for help in creating another sim league. @sterling sent him a message and they worked together, along with Kevin Brooks, to create what we now know as the Victory Hockey League.

Minor correction: I had nothing to do with the VHL’s creation. I joined on day 1 but was never part of the original planning. Neither was Sterling I don’t believe.

[sterling 1,990]

No, but as long as we let other people write history for us, we did @Beketov.

 

The original people would have been Scotty, Noiles and Brooks (amongst others). I joined a little while after the suspension of Sharpe, but I believe we were early teammates on Calgary.

 

Also, I can't take much credit for the 20 in 20 articles - they were mostly written by Zero. Some of the later ones were authored by Victor. And I did a few.

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

ahh Robert Sharpe. If you look closely at the goalies who went into the HoF around Sharpes time like Pogge, Maxim Desny and Jesus Christ. You will see that Sharpe's stats aren't far behind them to call him a bust is truly unfair and unjust in my opinion. He did something that didn't entirely break the rules but he got punished severely for it which is kind of funny considering if you know VHL history there is quite a bit of shady stuff from the first oh say 8 seasons. It is what it is though.

[Beketov 8,642]

12 minutes ago, TheLastOlympian07 said:

ahh Robert Sharpe. If you look closely at the goalies who went into the HoF around Sharpes time like Pogge, Maxim Desny and Jesus Christ. You will see that Sharpe's stats aren't far behind them to call him a bust is truly unfair and unjust in my opinion. He did something that didn't entirely break the rules but he got punished severely for it which is kind of funny considering if you know VHL history there is quite a bit of shady stuff from the first oh say 8 seasons. It is what it is though.

I think honestly Sharpe is deemed a bust purely because of the other options that were available. Krever honestly could have gotten Scotty and still picked me up later most likely. Stat wise, as you said, Sharpe wasn’t actually that bad.

[Phil 5,014]

2 hours ago, Matt_O said:

It's the year 2007, a time so ancient in VHL history that finding an exact date is borderline impossible, and finding exact details is like finding a needle in a haystack.

 

July 24, 2007

 

There's your needle.

[sterling 1,990]

I think the actual date is July 18, 2007, but Phil could be right as well.

[sterling 1,990]

Just now, sterling said:

I think the actual date is July 18, 2007, but Phil could be right as well.

Sorry, I see Phil is dating something else entirely.

[Matt_O 896]

Do you guys have any suggestions on what I should do next? 

[Phil 5,014]

22 minutes ago, sterling said:

Sorry, I see Phil is dating something else entirely.

I guess you could be right too

[Enorama 1,980]

44 minutes ago, Phil said:

 

July 24, 2007

 

There's your needle.

 

He remembers it like it was yesterday.

 

Actually, he's gone senile, so he literally thinks it was yesterday.

[Phil 5,014]

49 minutes ago, Enorama said:

 

He remembers it like it was yesterday.

 

Actually, he's gone senile, so he literally thinks it was yesterday.

 

It was literally last week

[sterling 1,990]

2 hours ago, Matt_O said:

Do you guys have any suggestions on what I should do next? 

Write about Phil’s poor players

[Phil 5,014]

3 hours ago, Matt_O said:

Do you guys have any suggestions on what I should do next? 

Write about Sterling's poor players

[sterling 1,990]

17 hours ago, Phil said:

Write about Sterling's poor players

That's why you're the bad.

[Phil 5,014]

26 minutes ago, sterling said:

That's why you're the bad.

I just Lee van gif'ed you

[Matt_O 896]

6 hours ago, sterling said:

That's why you're the bad.

By chance who is the ugly