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

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 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, doubling the number of participants beginning with this season, no NYCHA tournament was ever held.

## 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 standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | 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 standingsvte :
| | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | 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 standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | 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 standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | 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

| Semifinals March 16–17 | Semifinals March 16–17 | Semifinals March 16–17 | National championship March 18 | National championship March 18 | National championship March 18 |
| W1 | Mankato State | 1 | | | |
| E2 | Merrimack | 6 | | | |
| E2 | Merrimack | 6 | E2 | Merrimack | 12 |
| | | | W2 | Lake Forest | 2 |
| E1 | Elmira | 1 | W2 | Lake Forest | 2 |
| W2 | Lake Forest | 4 | Third-place game | Third-place game | Third-place game |
| | | | W1 | Mankato State | 5 |
| | | | E1 | Elmira | 3 |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

## 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