SPRINGFIELD, Mass -  American Hockey League President and CEO David Andrews announced Wednesday that the league’s Board of Governors has approved the sale of the franchise owned by Capital District Sports Inc. to Michael Kahn, and the relocation of the franchise from Albany, N.Y., to Charlotte, N.C., to begin play there in the fall of 2010.

In addition, the franchise has signed a new affiliation agreement with the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes.

The Charlotte Checkers will begin play with the 2010-11 AHL season at the Time Warner Cable Arena, the region’s premier sports and entertainment venue located in the heart of the city’s Uptown area.

The move buttresses the Hurricanes’ travel costs and reduces the time and distance for player call-ups and moves.  If the Hurricanes place an ECHL in the area their entire program would geographically centralized and economically prudent.

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