The American Hockey League’s Board of Governors approved division alignment for the 2011-2012 season, and the Portland Pirates will remain in the league’s Atlantic Division.

Five teams will make up the Atlantic Division: Portland, Manchester, St. John’s, Worcester and Providence.

The AHL will have two conferences – the Eastern and Western Conferences – made up of three divisions each: in the Eastern Conference, the Atlantic, Northeast (Adirondack, Albany, Bridgeport, Connecticut, Springfield) and East (Binghamton, Hershey, Norfolk, Syracuse and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton); in the Western Conference, the North (Rochester, Grand Rapids, Hamilton, Lake Erie, Toronto), Midwest (Charlotte, Chicago, Peoria, Milwaukee and Rockford) and West (Abbotsford, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Austin and Houston).

The Board of Governors also approved the playoff format for the 2011-2012 season. Eight teams in each conference will qualify for the playoffs – the division winners will earn the top three seeds, and the next five teams will be seeded fourth through eighth on the basis of their regular-season record.

The conference quarterfinals series will be best-of-five series. The conference semifinals, conference finals and Calder Cup Finals will be best-of-seven series. Teams will be re-ordered after the first round so that the highest-remaining seed plays the lowest-remaining seed.