The selection committee of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame went into the recent past for its top two inductees, picking former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan and former Avalanche captain Joe Sakic.
The committee announced its six inductees Friday. They will be honored at a banquet April 20 at the Denver Marriott City Center.
Shanahan coached the Broncos for 14 seasons, highlighted by victories over the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII and the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII.
Sakic played 20 seasons in the NHL, all with the Avalanche organization. He was a member of Canada’s gold medal hockey team in 2002.
Others selected to the 2010 class are Bob Blasi, longtime football coach at Northern Colorado; baseball coach Marc Johnson from Cherry Creek High School; Dean Lahr, a star wrestler at North High School and the University of Colorado; and sportscaster Larry Zimmer.
Blasi was 107-71-3 in 21 seasons at UNC. Johnson’s Cherry Creek teams have won 20 league titles and seven state championships. Lahr won NCAA wrestling championships in 1963 and ’64.
Zimmer joined KOA radio and television in 1971 and has seen broadcasting duty for the Denver Rockets, the Broncos and CU.
