Flint Firebirds (formerly Plymouth Whalers) unveil name, colours (VIDEO)

Flint Firebirds: it works on so many levels — well, two, to be exact.

On Monday, the Ontario Hockey League franchise that is moving from Plymouth unveiled its name and colour scheme.

A good hockey team moniker should roll right off the tongue; the double F slides off just so, plus Firebirds can refer to both the classic sports car and a phoenix, the bird from Greek mythology that rises from the ashes of its predecessors, which in this case would be other hockey teams to play in the Michigan city.

Nice touch.
The team's colours will be blue and orange, which isn't far off from the fictional Flint Tropics in the 2008 Will Ferrell basketball comedy Semi-Pro.

Flint Phoenix was also one of the suggested names, but that would have been untenable due to a conflict with the Sherbrooke Phoenix of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The name announcement comes in the wake of the franchise's' streak of 24 consecutive post-season appearances ending when the Whalers were eliminated from the Western Conference playoff chase last weekend. Plymouth-cum-Flint has one of the youngest lineups in the OHL, led by Columbus Blue Jackets first-rounder pick Sonny Milano and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, a goalie chosen in the second round by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.