Sports briefs 9/15/04

Hockey

The Blues have signed defenseman Barret Jackman to a three-year contract. Terms were not disclosed, but the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Jackman will earn $4.5 million over the length of the deal.

Jackman, 23, missed most of last season after injuring his shoulder. He played in just 15 games with one goal and two assists and 41 penalty minutes.

Jackman won the NHL's Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie during the 2002-03 season, becoming the first Blue in franchise history to win the award. Jackman was the Blues' first selection (17th overall) in the 1999 draft.

A federal judge admonished Katie Wolfmeyer's father Tuesday during her trial on murder conspiracy charges, saying Patrick Wolfmeyer allegedly made comments to witnesses that they took as threats.

Patrick Wolfmeyer, 51, made comments to two FBI agents and a member of the Columbia, Ill., police department when he saw them Thursday at the courthouse, Judge William Stiehl said in court.

Miscellaneous

Virgil Ward, who started making fishing lures as a side business and became one of the nation's best-known fishermen through his syndicated television show, has died at 93.

Ward died of cancer Monday at his home in Amsterdam, said his daughter, Barbara Ward.

Ward won a number of national and world fishing championships and received the Dolphin Award, the highest award in sports fishing. He was a member of both the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and the International Fishing Hall of Fame.

-- From wire reports