Karalahti Waiting It Out

Three weeks since he was due at the Kings’ training camp, Jere Karalahti is back playing for his Finnish Elite League team, HIFK Helsinki.

Karalahti, counted on for a role as an offensive defenseman with the Kings, remains in legal limbo while the U.S. government reviews his request for a visa to work in this country. He had been skating with HIFK, and the Kings assigned him to the club Friday to get in some game work.

He played Friday morning.

Without exhibition-game time with the Kings, Karalahti figures to be assigned to Long Beach of the International Hockey League to start the season, presuming the U.S. allows him in to play.

“Nobody figured that it was going to be a problem,” Don Baizley, Karalahti’s agent, said Friday. “He went in [to the U.S. consulate in Helsinki] to get the visa, and we thought there would be no problem.”

Neither the Kings nor Baizley had anybody along to facilitate a process they believed was routine. It has been anything but.

First, Karalahti submitted the wrong form to have a conviction for drug possession waived. He had been arrested two years before and had spent time in rehabilitation. There have been no recurring problems the past two years while playing for the Finnish national team.

After the correct forms were submitted, the U.S. began a review of Karalahti’s case that apparently is continuing. That’s why he’s still playing hockey in Helsinki while the rest of the Kings get ready for the season.

*

Defenseman Jaroslav Modry, who suffered a concussion in Wednesday’s game against San Jose, skated Friday morning before the Kings played at Colorado. . . . Winger Glen Murray did not skate because of a cold.