Yahoo Sports 
Flint, Mich., group says it is on a 'fast track' to land OHL franchise, adding to Plymouth Whalers drama
When there might be no option, perhaps being a second choice doesn't matter in any event.
Over the weekend, Flint, Mich.'s ABC 12 aired a report detailing that IMS-USA, the arena management company which owns that city's Perani Arena, is says it is working to land an Ontario Hockey League team for next season (after its talks with the United States Hockey League apparently withered). The IMS-USA push is being led by Costa Papista, whom longer-time OHL followers will remember as the general manager of the Saginaw Spirit during its first year after moving from North Bay in 2002.
Long story short, Papista and Co. need some sort of team in Flint at the same time the Plymouth Whalers are on record that they are looking for "viable" relocation markets. So there is that.
Here's Papista, speaking with ABC 12:
"We have an interest in the Ontario Hockey League. We have been talking with the league and it is one of our options and we are looking at it very carefully.
"... Everything we're doing is on a fast track to get a franchise in here for the fall." (ABC 12, Jan. 10)
Reading between the lines, it certainly looks like the OHL wasn't the first choice. Those scoring at home, though, know that the Whalers are on the record that they are looking for "viable" relocation markets. The current team playing out of the Perani Arena, which is 46 years old but does have adequate OHL seating capacity at 4,021, has been told to hit the bricks after this season. That's a lot of coincidences, plus.
Those among the announced crowd of 2,096 that the Plymouth Whalers had out last Saturday for a shutout loss to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds surely deserve some clarity about the OHL franchise's future. They will get it, eventually.
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.
