Pro Sports

With Brian Elliott injured, Jaroslav Halak will start in goal in Thursday's playoff opener against the San Jose Sharks.

Hitch knows exactly what this team needs to be successful," forward David Perron said. "He's leaned really hard on us, and we've responded."

Kyle Lohse held Miami hitless until the seventh inning and pitched into the eighth to help the Cardinals win the first game in Marlins Park, 4-1 on Wednesday night.

Kyle Lohse will face Josh Johnson in the nationally-televised game (ESPN) at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

When Gregg Williams was hired as St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator in January, he was answering the call from not just a longtime associate, but one of his best friends. Coach Jeff Fisher says he had no idea Williams had been running a "bounty pool" in New Orleans.

Kansas City Royals closer Joakim Soria must decide what to do about a ligament injury in his right elbow, the same ligament he had surgery on in 2003.

The recently retired manager of the St. Louis Cardinals spent two hours speaking and taking questions from fans at an appearance at Jesse Hall.

Pitcher Lance Lynn, 24, will make his first spring training start Wednesday and is being considered for the rotation if Chris Carpenter is unable to recover from a neck injury.

The Tigers' wrestling team won its first ever Big 12 Conference championship at Hearnes Center on Saturday. Four Missouri wrestlers won individual titles: Alan Waters (125 pounds), Drake Houdashelt (157), Zach Toal (165) and Mike Larson (184).

An NFL investigation found between 22 and 27 defensive players were involved in the program administered by Williams.

In professional sports, being a mentor is part of the job — even if it is for the competition.

Chief operating officer Kevin Demoff denied a report late Monday that a trade had already been decided.

"Major League Baseball is going to see how special the Royals fans are, because we're going to embrace the All-Star game, in my opinion, better than any city in recent years," said Dayton Moore, Royals general manager.

Snead was recruited to revamp the NFL franchise, which hasn't had a winning season since 2003.

Other than three notable new hires, most of the staff remains from last year.

The 60-year-old former Titans assistant has Missouri ties and is excited to work with Fisher, a coach he says "gets it on every level."

The signing classes are headlined by football commitments to Football Bowl Subdivision schools University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Memphis and University of Minnesota.

The St. Louis Blues are 21-3-4 at home and and in good shape for the rest of the season. But only 13 of the Blues' remaining 32 games are at the Scottrade Center, and the Blues are 8-10-3.

Feb. 1 is the deadline for the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission to outline how it will transform the Edward Jones Dome into a "first-tier" stadium by 2015. If it fails to do so, the Rams can break their lease — and potentially move — after the 2014 season.

New Rams coach Jeff Fisher formally announced Monday that Brian Schottenheimer was the team's new offensive coordinator and that Gregg Williams will run the defense.