1977–78 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season

1977–78 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season
DurationNovember 1977–
March 18, 1978
NCAA tournament1978
National championshipSpringfield, Massachusetts
NCAA championMerrimack
List of NCAA Division II men's ice hockey seasons
← 1976–77 1978–79 →

The 1977–78 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season began in November 1977 and concluded on March 18 of the following year. This was the 14th season of second-tier college ice hockey.

The NCAA instituted a Division II national championship beginning with this season. Bowdoin was one of the two ECAC 2 tournament champions, however, because Bowdoin College barred its teams from participating in national tournaments at the time[1] runner-up Merrimack was selected instead.

Due to the number of independent programs and the lack of any conference tournament for western teams, the NCAA also began holding a playoff series for western teams to help determine which schools would receive bids.

Despite already being part of ECAC 2, all SUNYAC schools, as well as a few other upstate New York schools formed the New York Collegiate Hockey Association (NYCHA). Because all teams were still members of ECAC 2 and the larger conference began holding two tournaments, doubled the number of participants beginning with this season, no NYCHA tournament was ever held.[2]

Regular season

Season tournaments

Tournament Dates Teams Champion
Merrimack Thanksgiving Tournament November 25–26 4 Merrimack
Codfish Bowl December 28–29 4 Salem State
Williams Tournament December 29–30 4 Oswego State
Salem State Tournament January 4–5 4 Lowell
Merrimack Christmas Tournament January 6–7 4 Merrimack

Standings

1977–78 ECAC 2 standings
Conference Overall
GP W L T Pct. GF GA GP W L T GF GA
East Region
Bowdoin †* 17 13 3 1 .794 116 61 26 19 6 1
Merrimack 21 16 4 1 .786 120 71 32 21 9 2 173 114
Lowell 22 16 5 1 .750 120 76 24 17 6 1 130 84
Salem State 24 17 7 0 .708 108 84 29 21 8 0
Holy Cross 21 14 7 0 .667 99 75 26 16 9 1 132 93
American International 21 13 7 1 .643 113 102 23 15 7 1
Maine 19 10 9 0 .526 99 64 25 13 12 0 129 99
Saint Anselm 21 10 10 1 .500 113 98 25 12 12 1 130 124
Colby 22 9 12 1 .432 79 77
Connecticut 18 7 10 1 .417 94 99 23 12 10 1 109 100
Bryant 19 6 12 1 .342 99 129 25 12 13 0
New Haven 22 7 14 1 .341 79 115 26 10 15 1
Babson 20 4 15 1 .225 67 100 22 6 15 1
Boston State 18 4 14 0 .222 74 127 23 7 16 0
New England College 16 3 12 1 .219 64 99 22 7 13 2
Bridgewater State 18 3 15 0 .167 61 113 27 7 20 0
West Region
Plattsburgh State † 19 16 3 0 .842 129 60 22 18 4 0 157 79
Elmira * 22 18 4 0 .818 165 76 32 26 6 0 235 102
Middlebury 14 11 3 0 .786 83 55 22 16 6 0 112 73
Oswego State 24 16 8 0 .667 143 90 27 18 9 0 163 105
Norwich 22 13 9 0 .591 114 95 25 14 11 0 121 106
Hamilton 19 11 8 0 .579 95 81 23 13 10 0
Army 19 10 8 1 .553 96 90 26 13 12 1 130 129
Buffalo 22 12 10 0 .545 110 93 27 14 13 0
Geneseo State 23 12 11 0 .522 140 137 26 15 11 0
Massachusetts 20 8 11 1 .425 75 86 20 8 11 1 75 86
Williams 17 7 10 0 .412 76 85 21 10 11 0
North Adams State 15 6 9 0 .400 65 63 23 13 10 0
Potsdam State 15 4 11 0 .267 60 95 21 9 12 0
Cortland State 18 4 14 0 .222 69 139
Union 8 1 7 0 .125 22 87 19 4 14 1
Brockport State 15 1 14 0 .071 42 124 20 3 17 0 65 166
Championships: March 16, 1978
† indicates division regular season champions
* indicates conference tournament champions
1977–78 NCAA Division II Independent ice hockey standings
Overall record
GP W L T GF GA
Alaska–Fairbanks 18 14 3 1 - -
Chicago State
Hillsdale
Illinois-Chicago 24 14 10 0
Lake Forest 28 23 5 0 207 98
Mankato State 34 17 16 1 170 154
Oberlin
St. Cloud State 24 12 12 0 137 126
1977–78 NYCHA standings
Conference Overall
GP W L T Pts GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Plattsburgh State † 14 13 1 0 26 104 46 22 18 4 0 157 79
Elmira 14 12 2 0 24 109 38 32 26 6 0 235 102
Oswego State 14 9 5 0 18 91 48 27 18 9 0 163 105
Brockport State 14 1 13 0 2 42 124 20 3 17 0 65 166
Buffalo 27 14 13 0
Cortland State
Geneseo State 26 15 11 0
Potsdam State 21 9 12 0

As of 2/22: 1. Plattsburgh 11-1-0-22 91:40, 2. Elmira 10-2-0-20 85:33, 3. Oswego 9-3-0-18 85:38, 4. Buffalo 7-5-0-14 55:54, 5. Cortland 4-7-0-8 55:83, 6. Geneseo 4-7-0-8 44:57, 7. Potsdam 1-10-0-2 38:77, 8. Brockport 1-12-0-2 40:111

† indicates conference regular season champion

1977–78 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference ice hockey standings
Conference Overall
GP W L T Pts GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Augsburg † 14 13 1 0 26 28 22 6 0
Gustavus Adolphus 14 11 3 0 22 27 17 11 0
Saint John's 14 9 5 0 18 22 15 7 0
St. Thomas 14 7 7 0 14 27 14 12 1
Hamline 14 7 7 0 14 25 11 14 0
Concordia (MN) 14 6 8 0 12 27 11 16 0
Saint Mary's 14 2 12 0 4 25 4 21 0
St. Olaf 14 1 13 0 2 26 3 23 0
† indicates conference regular season champion

1978 NCAA tournament

Main article: 1978 NCAA Division II Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
Semifinals
March 16–17 		National championship
March 18
      
W1 Mankato State 1
E2 Merrimack 6
E2 Merrimack 12
W2 Lake Forest 2
E1 Elmira 1
W2 Lake Forest 4 Third-place game
W1 Mankato State 5
E1 Elmira 3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

[3]

1978 NHL Amateur Draft

Main article: 1978 NHL Amateur Draft
Round Pick Player College Conference NHL team
9 153 Craig MacTavish Lowell ECAC 2 Boston Bruins
18 230 Bob Magnuson Merrimack ECAC 2 Montreal Canadiens

† incoming freshman
[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Bowdoin College Men's Hockey History" (PDF). Bowdoin Polar Bears. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 29, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  2. ^ "Plattsburgh Ice Hockey Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). Plattsburgh Cardinals. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  3. ^ "NCAA Record Book" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  4. ^ "1978 NHL Amateur Draft". Hockey DB. Retrieved October 25, 2023.