HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The American Hockey League announced changes to its divisional alignments and playoff format at its annual board of governors meetings on Wednesday.

The league will change to two, seven-team divisions per conference next season. There were three divisions in both the Eastern and Western Conferences last season.

The Portland Pirates will play in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division, along with Hartford, Lowell, Manchester, Providence, Springfield and Worcester.

The Eastern Conference will also comprise of the East Division, with Albany, Binghamton, Bridgeport, Hershey, Norfolk, Philadelphia and Wilkes- Barre. The Hamilton Bulldogs, St. John’s Maple Leafs, Manitoba Moose and expansion Toronto Roadrunners will play in the Western Conference’s North Division next season along with Cleveland, Rochester and Syracuse.

The top five teams in each division will qualify for the postseason, with the fourth- and fifth-seeded teams facing each other in a best-of-three first round. Those winners will play the No. 1 seeds in their divisions while the second- and third-seeded teams will meet in the best-of-seven second round.

The division finals will match the semifinal winners within each division.

, with those winners advancing to their respective conference final to determine who plays in the Calder Cup Finals.AP-ES-07-09-03 2032EDT