Best sports coach -- professional

Okay, we know: The Dallas Stars have knocked off the more-talented Colorado Avalanche two years in a row en route to the Stanley Cup Finals. But Avs' coach Bob Hartley, formerly at the helm in Hershey, Pennsylvania (Colorado's top farm club), also guided Roy, Sakic, Forsberg and company past detested Detroit in 1999 and 2000, and the continuing confidence general manager Pierre Lacroix shows in him -- at least through next season -- is not misplaced. A bounce of the puck here and there during that furious game-seven comeback in Dallas, and the Avs would have met eventual winner New Jersey for the Cup this year.

Readers' choice: Mike Shanahan