Whalers expected to Move to Flint - Chatham misses out

[flyers2011]

Windsor Star Article
Bob Duff
Windsor Star
Jan 13, 2015 - 6:14 PM EST
Last Updated: Jan 13, 2015 - 8:14 PM EST


The Plymouth Whalers are expected to announce the sale of their franchise to IMS USA and the relocation of the Ontario Hockey League franchise to Flint, Mich., at a press conference slated for Wednesday at 11 a.m.

IMS USA, a Florida-based group, took ownership of Flint’s Perani Arena Dec. 31 with the announced goal of bringing a major tenant to the building for the start of the 2015-16 season.

“We are in high-level negotiations with the OHL at this time,” IMS USA president Costa Papista said. “Our goal is to bring the very highest calibre of hockey to Flint and Genesee County in time for the 2015-16 season.”

Papista was part of the group that moved the OHL North Bay Centennials to Saginaw in 2002 and served as the first GM of the Spirit.

While declining to comment specifically on the Whalers, Papista confirmed that he and other members of the IMS USA group would be in attendance at Wednesday’s press conference (Live blog at windsorstar.com and Jim Parker will have Twitter updates @winstarparker).

As talks ramped up with the OHL late last week, IMS USA withdrew its application for a United States Hockey League franchise. Flint’s proposal to the USHL was to have been considered this week by the league’s board of governors.

Upon acquiring the arena, IMS USA announced plans for $2-3 million in upgrades to the facility.

Immediate renovations would include structural repairs, cosmetic changes to the building and improved signage off Interstate I-69, as well as updates to the front office facilities and players’ and coaches spaces.

This will include significant upgrades to the dressing room and weight room areas to bring them up to the standard that an OHL team would require.

Perani Arena seats 4,021 for hockey, with standing room for an additional 400.

“I want to bring in top-level hockey to the area,” IMIS USA technical director Rolf Nilsen said. “It’s a good thing for hockey fans and a good thing for Flint and Genesee County.”

The building’s current junior club, the Michigan Warriors of the North American League, have been advised to seek a new home at season’s end. Former Windsor Spitfires coach-GM Moe Mantha is coach-GM of the Warriors.

Peter Karmanos, owner of the Whalers, recently indicated that he was uncertain of what the future held for the franchise.

In late November, an agreement to sell Compuware Arena, the home of the Whalers, to USA Hockey, which announced plans to move its under-18 and under-17 programs into the facility next season.

In December, Karmanos suggested Chatham as a possible destination for the Whalers, but minus a suitable arena and an obvious ownership group, Chatham was always playing catch-up to Flint as a realistic option.

It is known that the OHL’s Dec. 31 deadline for franchise shifts only covers decisions by owners to relocate their teams. It does not prevent the sale and relocation of a team beyond that date.

Any decision on a franchise shift would still need to be approved by the OHL governors, but according to a league source, the Windsor Spitfires, Saginaw Spirit, London Knights and Sarnia Sting have already indicated to OHL commissioner Dave Branch that they would support a team in Flint.

The next governors’ meeting is slated for Feb. 2.

[jfvoll]

I'm glad they're not moving to Waterloo or Chatham,

[RocketGirl]

You should read the editorials from CKSN on this issue. They're quite good and bring valid points to the table.

http://www.cksn.ca/2015/01/lack-arena-h ... s-ohl-bid/

http://www.cksn.ca/2015/01/opinion-aren ... ill-timed/