VHL 20 in 20 #6: Bad Decisions

[sterling 1,990]

Bad Decisions

I joined this league just after the Season 1 dispersal draft had ended, and the biggest subject of conversation was about how Robert Sharpe was drafted 1st overall by the Amstel Tijgers. Not only that, but right after I joined, Sharpe found himself right in the middle of another controversy – the league’s first big “scandal” – that saw him get banned from the practice facilities for an entire year. This suspension was the longest of its kind and I definitely believe that it had a major impact on the course of VHL history, along with the draft itself. For those of you who weren’t around back in the real early days of the VHL, this is a story you may have been vaguely informed about, but I hope to paint you a better picture in this episode of 20 for 20.

I think every VHL player should go back and look through the first few draft classes, so they can get an idea of where this league began, and who the real pioneers were. Obviously, household names like Campbell, Desny, and Boulet have been immortalized in the VHL Hall of Fame, but there’s no shortage of respectable players who played the entirety of their careers back in the early, run-and-gun days of the Victory Hockey League. Perhaps one name stands out more than any other, but for a very different reason than most other notables. This player was the first player ever to be drafted into the VHL – goaltender Robert Sharpe.

Robert Sharpe was born in Borden, Ontario, where he lived until age 3. From there, he moved to Moncton, New Brunswick and started to play hockey as a goaltender. He eventually made his way to the University of New Brunswick, before leaving to play major junior hockey for the Oshawa Generals, and was drafted to the NHL by the Chicago Blackhawks. He played 2 games for Chicago before an injury sidelined him and ended his NHL career. Deciding to keep an eye out for new opportunities, he came to the VHL.

”I didn’t have a major reputation when I joined the league, but people did know me so I'd like to believe that people thought I was a decent prospect, at least. They didn’t predict for me to go early though. I don't remember this exactly, but I believe I was expected to be drafted mid to late second round at the time.” – Robert Sharpe

The Calgary Wranglers originally had the 1st overall pick in the dispersal draft, but general manager Brett Slobodzian decided to swap 1st and 2nd round picks with the Amstel’s JJ Krever. According to Sharpe, Krever’s plans were clear from the beginning.

”JJ Krever e-mailed me about the trade before he made it, and he informed me that he intended to draft me with the first overall pick. I was somewhat surprised, I must admit, but I wasn't about to complain.” – Robert Sharpe

Meanwhile, most of the league remained in the dark about this information. The discussion carried on about who would be the 1st selection, and while Scotty Campbell seemed to be the consensus choice, goaltender Maxim Desny got some support also. However, it turned out that neither party was correct.

”I kind of had a feeling I wouldn’t go first because I didn't talk to Krever too much. Thor [Ljunggren] gave me the impression that he thought I might not be the top pick based on what he was hearing. When Sharpe went first, however, that was obviously the moment when I knew for sure.” – Scotty Campbell


Gary Bettman makes a surprise appearance at the Dispersal Draft

Sure enough, Krever went up to the draft podium and announced that the Canadian goaltender would be his first pick. One player who really took this pick to heart was Wranglers legend Scott Boulet, who now has a trophy in his name. Boulet was picked 6th overall by the Wranglers, with the pick that the Amstel Tijgers traded away. Boulet never let the Tijgers or the rest of the league forget that fateful trade. However, the deal wasn’t overly bad for Amstel, who acquired the pick that would become Hall of Famer Petr Shirokov. Amstel’s 2nd round pick that went to Calgary became goaltender Drew Barclay, who helped the Wranglers reach the Continental Cup finals in Season 1.

Another player who wasn’t overly happy with the draft was goaltender Matthew Pogge, another eventual Hall of Fame inductee, who was the 3rd goalie picked, as he fell out of the 1st round and would end up going 9th overall to Thor Ljunggren’s Vasteras IK club. Pogge was thought of to be a potential 1st round pick, and maybe even the 2nd best goaltender available after Desny, but the surprise selection of Sharpe saw him fall a bit further than he expected.

”It bugged me at first when I was sitting in the green room waiting for my name, and the first round came and went. I knew that I was a first round talent, and seeing some of the names that went before me was certainly a surprise. However, when Vasteras called my name, I couldn't be happier. With Thor and Scotty, the 3 of us made a great core and I knew we could do some real damage in the league.” – Matt Pogge

Indeed they did, as Vasteras went on and became the league’s first champions. Unfortunately for that franchise, this was their only Continental Cup win, but that story will be told in another episode. Indeed, the dispersal draft was very kind to Thor Ljunggren and the Vasteras IK, who not only picked up a guy whom many considered to be the best player of the draft (and who ended up being just that, in hindsight), they also got a Hall of Fame goalie in Pogge, and a strong supporting cast of players such as Jonathan McKelvie.

A lot of outrage, however, came from the general public. As mentioned, a lot of people picked Campbell to go first, and most of those that didn’t pick Campbell ended up picking Desny.

”I was only really predicted to go, as far as I remember, around mid 2nd round. In the first season of a league, goaltenders are usually not the first players to go since many teams want a solid offence. Plus, the fact that Campbell was passed over proved to be a massive controversy in itself. – Robert Sharpe

But this was only the beginning of Robert Sharpe’s rocky debut in the Victory Hockey League. Just a few days before the start of the league’s inaugural season, Commissioner Kevin Brooks announced that Robert Sharpe had been caught using performance-enhancing drugs. It wasn’t the steroids that many people originally thought he was using, but it was a drug that had caused him to fail a mandatory drug test. Sharpe was fined $1,000,000 by the league, and was removed from his position of authority in the league. This prompted a lot of talk amongst the agents, the fans, and the players. Robert Sharpe came under attack, as many said that his punishment should have been even stricter.


Sharpe at a press conference, just after the news of his punishment came out

”Many different stories circled around that day but what I was actually caught for is not what most people believe. People just seemed to add more fuel to the fire before I even got around to defend myself. I do believe what I did was wrong, when I think back on it now, but I don't think it was nearly as bad as many people claimed. With that said, I do believe a suspension was warranted but, to this day, don't believe the full season I received was fair at all. At the time even, I know many lesser suspensions were suggested but, in reality, it was a hundred on one so I didn't stand much of a chance against the mob.” – Robert Sharpe

For the first VHL season, Robert Sharpe was blacklisted throughout the VHL. The goaltender was banned from practice facilities, and was only allowed to show up for games. As an agent, he got a massive black mark on his reputation that follows him to this day. Some people don’t want to let him forget the past, which is why I felt bad asking him about the incident. Still, it is a part of VHL history and I felt that Sharpe would like to get his side of the story straight, once and for all.

Sharpe actually had said that he would leave the league completely because of his punishment, feeling it was too harsh. After a talk with the Commissioners, he decided to come back and stick it out.

The Tijgers would trade Robert Sharpe to the Stockholm Thunder for goaltender Sam Martin, and forward Alex Gegeny near the end of the season. They managed to make the playoffs despite their crippled 1st overall pick. Because strong offensive seasons by Shirokov, Gegeny, and Ondrej Skokan, the Tijgers finished 2nd in the European Conference to the Vasteras IK, and ahead of Sharpe’s Thunder and the Helsinki Frostbite.

Sharpe would play the entirety of Season 2 with Stockholm, now allowed back into the training facilities, but would ask for a trade at year’s end. He got his wish as he was moved to the Calgary Wranglers just in time to help them capture their 2nd – and his 1st – Continental Cup.

”Even with that cup, I unfortunately would not say that my career was successful. Winning a cup is always good, for certain, but Calgary had an amazing team that year and I was just lucky to be a part of it. Aside from my name being on the Continental Cup once, I would hardly say I did anything memorable with my career.” – Robert Sharpe

Sharpe would play the entirety of Season 4 with a much weaker Wranglers team that missed the playoffs. After the season, he retired, deciding to concentrate more on his duties as an agent. He eventually signed future Hall of Famer, Alexander Beketov, to his agency and had great success, but the black mark of Sharpe still seems to overshadow it.

”I will be the first person, generally, to admit that I'm the biggest first overall flop this league has ever seen. Had Amstel kept the pick they had, they easily could have picked me. Even if they had made the trade, they could have gotten Campbell and then still possibly gotten me later. Don't get me wrong, I take immense pride in being the player that went before the great Scotty Campbell, but I believe JJ Krever made a horrible mistake.” – Robert Sharpe

Was Robert Sharpe truly a bad pick, or was he a good pick who got himself in trouble? The man himself seems to believe so, but Scotty Campbell says that he would have also picked a goalie had he been in Krever’s position.


Sharpe with the Wranglers

”I think any time a team passes on the best player in the draft, they're clearly making a bad pick. Everyone could tell by watching Scotty – especially growing up and playing with him in Switzerland like I did - that he was a superstar from the beginning. However, Sharpe was mostly a victim of his own youthful ignorance. He was a good kid that got caught doing a bad thing, and it cost him. If he doesn't put himself in that situation, maybe it wasn't such a terrible decision 20 seasons later. That’s not to say he would have been on Scotty's level, but he would certainly have challenged for some awards.” – Matt Pogge

In a situation like this, it is always interesting to speculate on how different history would have gone had one slight change been applied to it. We talk about it all the time in the NHL. Ken Dryden was once a Boston Bruins prospect, Maple Leafs GM, Conn Smythe, offered the Canadiens a ton of money to acquire Maurice Richard, and Sam Pollock traded Ralph Backstrom to the Los Angeles Kings, so that they could stay ahead of the California Golden Seals in the standings, ensuring that the Seals’ 1st round pick (which the Canadiens owned) would remain 1st overall. That pick became Guy Lafleur. It’s amazing to think how differently things could have gone if the Bruins hung onto Dryden, if the Habs let go of The Rocket, and if Sam Pollock wasn’t a genius. How about if the Amstel Tijgers picked Campbell instead of Sharpe?

”Not to sound conceited, but Amstel probably would have had a much different history. As it turned out, I had a pretty special career. With some of the other offensive players that the Tijgrs had, we probably could have been a lot better. Calgary might have won the Cup in Season 1, because I don't know if Amstel would have had the overall balance that Vasteras had, but it's definitely interesting to think about how it all could have been different.” – Scotty Campbell

In the end, that is not how things turned out, and while it is fun to wonder how things could have been, it can only be so relevant. The Bruins foolishly traded away Dryden, the Habs kept Richard, Sam Pollock managed to draft Lafleur, and the Tijgers picked Sharpe. That is history, and while different people look back on these stories in different ways, it is what made the game what it is today.

In the end, bad decisions cost Robert Sharpe and the Amstel Tijgers very dearly. Sharpe is the first to admit that he was the undeserving 1st overall pick on that day, and that what he did was wrong despite what he believed to be an unjust punishment. Personally, I don’t remember what I thought of the punishment at the time it was announced, but I can say now that I do believe it was too harsh when I look back on it. However, I believe Sharpe was “the example” that the Commissioners needed to prove that they meant business and that there was zero tolerance for what Sharpe did.

”I've got more regrets than I could really list here, I assure you. I regret the scandal, obviously. I regret my actions towards a lot of players, even if they deserved what they got. I also regret my actions during my time with Stockholm, but that’s a story for another day. In the end, I've probably got more regrets than any other player who has ever set foot in a VHL arena.” – Robert Sharpe

End of part 6
Special thanks to Matt Pogge, Scotty Campbell, and Robert Sharpe, of course

 

[v.2 1,259]

@BeketovLmao what did you do again? I can't remember

[Beketov 8,639]

2 hours ago, v.2 said:

@BeketovLmao what did you do again? I can't remember

Most people can’t.

 

I made some sigs that I claimed in one league, changed the text, and claimed them here. At the time the wording was just “must be original” and was incredibly vague but the league needed a martyr so….