NHL Faces Issues With Visas

Mighty Duck goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere handled almost everything fired at him last spring, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the NHL’s playoff MVP. But the handling -- mishandling actually -- of one scrap of paper was beating him until Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, King defenseman Maxim Kuznetsov is in Moscow instead of banging around training camp, waiting while a 5-year-old drunk driving charge blocks his entry into the United States.

These are the speed bumps and road blocks NHL players and their teams face in the new age of U.S. security, since the Department of Homeland Security tightened its grip on immigration in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“They see no difference between an average Joe and a first-line NHL player,” said Amy Early, an NHL spokesperson. “If something is amiss, it slows the process down.”

Early did not have specific numbers but said there has been an increase in visa problems the last two years, a good number of which would probably have been overlooked three years ago.

The situation is more common in hockey than in other professional sports because the league has more players born outside the U.S. At the start of last season, there were only 93 American-born players among the 714 in the NHL.

The Ducks’ Garrett Burnett was given the wrong entry slip when he drove across the border. He had to fly to Vancouver just to go back through immigration, returning to Southern California the same day.

“”It is a little funny sometimes,” Burnett said. “I mean, all I had to do was leave the country and come back. I could have gone to Tijuana. Canada was safer.”

Learning of Kuznetsov’s plight, Duck defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski decided to get his U.S. visa in Canada instead of Russia, leading to a sitcom-like journey.

He flew to New York to get a visa to enter Canada, but was told he had to go to Los Angeles instead.

Vishnevski picked up his Canadian visa in Los Angeles, flew to Toronto, picked up his U.S. visa and flew back to Los Angeles the same day.

The problems can slow a trip -- or a career.

Kuznetsov is stuck in Russia and has missed two weeks of training camp. U.S. Consulate officials say he has not paid a license reinstatement fee stemming from a drunk driving charge more than five years ago, when he played for Adirondack, a minor league team.

Kuznetsov, 26, is a candidate to be the Kings’ fifth or sixth defenseman but has missed valuable time as he awaits final approval on a visa. King officials originally hoped Kuznetsov would return to the team this week.

Giguere lost the paper that approved his playing in the U.S. and, although he has practiced, he has been unable to participate in games. A copy of the document finally arrived Thursday afternoon, so Giguere will make his exhibition season debut tonight against Florida at the Arrowhead Pond.

“It got misplaced,” Giguere said sheepishly. “It was my fault.”

Giguere will have to cram for the season in the Ducks’ final four exhibition games. He will probably play both this weekend.

“There is no reason to get frustrated,” Giguere said. “This is just something you can’t control.”

*

Times staff writer Mike Bresnahan contributed to this report.