The Charlotte Checkers will look west when the 2011-12 American Hockey League season opens this fall, aligning with the Midwest Division and Chicago, Milwaukee, Peoria, Ill., and Rockford, Ill.

In doing so, the Checkers leave the East Division and their closest geographic rival, the Norfolk Admirals, and top-tier teams such as the 2009-10 champion Hershey Bears and the Binghamton Senators, the league's current champ.

The Midwest Division will find a tough competitor in the Checkers, who made the Eastern Conference finals and earned 97 regular-season points. That topped Peoria (92 points); Chicago (89) and Rockford (85). Only Milwaukee, with 102 points, was better.

The realignment of the 30-team league was approved Tuesday by a vote of the AHL's board of governors meeting in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

The realignment was prompted by the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers and their relocation to Winnipeg, Manitoba, approved by the NHL last month. That started a chain reaction that sent Winnipeg's AHL team, the Manitoba Moose, east to St. Johns, Newfoundland. The St. John's relocation created an imbalance in the Eastern and Western conferences, which resulted in the AHL sending the Checkers to the Midwest Division.

Checkers spokesman Mike Lappan said the vote of the teams, and how the Checkers voted, won't be made public, according to league policy.

In addition, the AHL expanded from four divisions to six, with each consisting of five teams. Last season, two divisions had eight teams and two seven each.

The 15-team Western Conference now will stretch from Charlotte to Toronto to Abbottsford, British Columbia, spanning four time zones. The Checkers played no Western Conference teams last season. The league schedule wasn't announced.

"There's still a chance we could play Norfolk, a chance we could play Hershey," Lappan said. "We could end up playing other teams from the East."

Lappan said travel won't be an issue. Last season, the Checkers would fly to Boston (721 miles) and board a bus to play New England teams. During the upcoming season, they would fly to Chicago (587 miles) and board a bus for Midwestern teams.

AHL teams will play a 76-game schedule in 2011-12, four fewer than last season. The first round of the playoffs will be a best-of-5 series rather than best-of-7.

2011-12 AHL Realignment

EASTERN

Atlantic Division

Manchester Monarchs (L.A.)

Portland Pirates (Phoenix)

Providence Bruins (Boston)

St. John's (Winnipeg)

Worcester Sharks (San Jose)

Northeast Division

Adirondack Phantoms (Phila.)

Albany Devils (New Jersey)

Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI)

Connecticut Whale (NYR)

Springfield Falcons (Colum.)

East Division

Binghamton Senators (Ott.)

Hershey Bears (Washington)

Norfolk Admirals (Tampa Bay)

Syracuse Crunch (Anaheim)

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh)

WESTERN

North Division

Grand Rapids Griffins (Det.)

Hamilton Bulldogs (Montreal)

Lake Erie Monsters (Colorado)

Rochester Americans (Buff.)

Toronto Marlies (Toronto)

Midwest Division

Charlotte Checkers (Carolina)

Chicago Wolves (Vancouver)

Milwaukee Admirals (Nash.)

Peoria Rivermen (St. Louis)

Rockford IceHogs (Chicago)

West Division

Abbotsford Heat (Calgary)

Houston Aeros (Minnesota)

Oklahoma City Barons (Edm.)

San Antonio Rampage (Fla.)

Texas Stars (Dallas)