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Several of the visiting teams facing the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at the Mohegan Sun Arena next season will have a new look.

On Thursday, the American Hockey League unveiled its new alignment for the 2017-18 season that includes several changes to the Penguins’ division and opponents. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will remain in the Atlantic Division, which will now include the Charlotte Checkers, which move over from the Central Division in the Western Conference. The addition of the Checkers will increase the number of teams in the Atlantic Division to eight.

The AHL’s eight-team Atlantic Division now includes the following teams:

• Bridgeport Sound Tigers

• Charlotte Checkers

• Hartford Wolf Pack

• Hershey Bears

• Lehigh Valley Phantoms

• Providence Bruins

• Springfield Thunderbirds

• Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

Including the Checkers, the Penguins will play seven teams during this upcoming season that did not appear on the team’s 2016-17 schedule: the Milwaukee Admirals, Rockford IceHogs, Grand Rapids Griffins, Laval Rocket, Belleville Senators and Binghamton Devils. The Devils are the AHL affiliate for New Jersey and moved to Binghamton from Albany for the upcoming season.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has never played a regular-season game against Rockford, Laval or Belleville. Grand Rapids last visited Northeastern Pennsylvania during the 2008-09 season, and Milwaukee hasn’t played a regular-season game in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton since 2001-02.

The Penguins last faced the Checkers at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza during the 2010-11 campaign. The last meeting occurred on May 7, 2011 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals when Charlotte scored four unanswered goals in the third period to beat the Penguins 4-3 and eliminate them from the postseason.

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By Tom Venesky

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Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TomVenesky