PRINCETON, N.J. (WOWO): The Fort Wayne Komets are changing divisions.
With the addition of seven former Central Hockey League teams to the ECHL, the Komets will play in the Eastern Conference's North Division.
During the off-season, the team was moved to the Western Conference Midwest Division.
Now, they are back to the Eastern Conference and North Division as they were in 2013-14.
Updates to the schedule are expected in the next few days, according to the league.
The playoffs format has also been modified. The new four-round playoff system has the top four teams in each division, a 16 total teams, vying for the Kelly Cup Playoffs. All playoff series rounds will be a best-of-seven.
Here's the full press release from the ECHL:
Komets move to North Division of Eastern Conference ECHL announces divisional re-alignment
The ECHL announced Thursday the revised divisional alignment and format for the 2015 Kelly Cup Playoffs following the approval of seven expansion teams on Tuesday.
The Board of Governors approved the conference and divisional alignment for the upcoming 2014-15 season as follows:
Eastern Conference
North Division: Fort Wayne, Cincinnati, Evansville, Indianapolis, Kalamazoo, Toledo and Wheeling.
East Division: Elmira, Florida, Greenville, Gwinnett, Orlando, Reading and South Carolina.
Western Conference
Central Division: Allen, Brampton, Missouri, Quad City, Rapid City, Tulsa and Wichita.
Pacific Division: Alaska, Bakersfield, Colorado, Idaho, Ontario, Stockton and Utah.
Revised playoff format: The top four teams in each division during the regular season will qualify for the 2015 Kelly Cup Playoffs. All four rounds will be played in a best-of-seven format.
The first two rounds of the playoffs will be played entirely within the division with the division winner meeting the fourth-place finisher and the second-place finisher meeting the team that finished in third place in the Division Semifinals.
The Division Finals will pit the winner of each series against each other. The winner of the North Division Finals will meet the winner of the East Division Finals in the Eastern Conference Finals while the winner of the Central Division will meet the winner of the Pacific Division Finals in the Western Conference Finals. The Eastern Conference champion will face the Western Conference champion in the 2015 Kelly Cup Finals.
Updates to the 2014-15 ECHL playing schedule will be announced within the next few days.
