# 1976–77 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season

The 1976–77 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season began in November 1976 and concluded in March 1977. This was the 13th season of second-tier college ice hockey.

## Regular season
### Season tournaments

| Tournament | Dates | Teams | Champion |
| Oswego Invitational | November 13–14 | 4 | Oswego State |
| Skate 3 Tournament | November 24–25 | 4 | Merrimack |
| Pilgrim Hockey Festival | November 27–28 | 4 | Holy Cross |
| Elmira Tournament | December 4–5 | 4 | Elmira |
| Codfish Bowl | December 28–29 | 4 | Lowell |
| Salem State Tournament | January 8–9 | 4 | Salem State |
| Wesleyan Invitational | January 18, 20 | 4 | |

### Standings

1976–77 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 |||||||||||||||
| Merrimack * | 23 | 20 | 2 | 1 | .891 | 123 | 51 | 35 | 23 | 11 | 1 | 175 | 114 |
| Bowdoin | 15 | 13 | 2 | 0 | .867 | 102 | 47 | 23 | 16 | 7 | 0 | | |
| Salem State | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0 | .727 | 107 | 78 | 27 | 22 | 5 | 0 | | |
| Lowell | 25 | 16 | 8 | 1 | .660 | 111 | 84 | 27 | 17 | 9 | 1 | 117 | 92 |
| New Haven | 15 | 7 | 6 | 2 | .533 | 56 | 58 | 24 | 16 | 6 | 2 | | |
| Holy Cross | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | .455 | 97 | 88 | 27 | 15 | 12 | 0 | 145 | 100 |
| Saint Anselm | 20 | 8 | 11 | 1 | .425 | 87 | 88 | 21 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 88 | 95 |
| Bryant | 17 | 7 | 10 | 0 | .412 | 69 | 107 | 30 | 17 | 13 | 0 | | |
| Bridgewater State | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 50 | 81 | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | | |
| Babson | 18 | 4 | 12 | 2 | .278 | 46 | 63 | 22 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 78 | 72 |
| Connecticut | 20 | 5 | 14 | 1 | .275 | 65 | 75 | 24 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 103 | 107 |
| Boston State | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0 | .273 | 75 | 115 | 28 | 10 | 18 | 0 | | |
| Colby | 21 | 5 | 16 | 0 | .238 | 51 | 113 | 24 | 8 | 16 | 0 | | |
| New England College | 17 | 4 | 13 | 0 | .235 | 45 | 97 | 23 | 8 | 15 | 0 | | |
| West Region |||||||||||||||
| Union † | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | .917 | 106 | 39 | 26 | 22 | 3 | 1 | | |
| Elmira | 21 | 19 | 2 | 0 | .905 | 154 | 57 | 25 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 180 | 67 |
| Army | 17 | 14 | 2 | 1 | .853 | 111 | 51 | 29 | 22 | 6 | 1 | 202 | 101 |
| American International | 19 | 14 | 5 | 0 | .737 | 113 | 70 | 24 | 18 | 6 | 0 | | |
| Middlebury | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | .719 | 91 | 56 | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | | |
| Buffalo | 15 | 11 | 4 | 0 | .733 | 113 | 54 | 25 | 14 | 11 | 0 | | |
| Hamilton | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 101 | 73 | 21 | 15 | 5 | 1 | | |
| Oswego State | 23 | 14 | 9 | 0 | .609 | 97 | 109 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 106 | 121 |
| Norwich | 23 | 11 | 12 | 0 | .478 | 111 | 115 | 25 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 123 | 131 |
| Cortland State | 17 | 8 | 9 | 0 | .471 | 88 | 100 | | | | | | |
| Massachusetts | 20 | 8 | 11 | 1 | .425 | 69 | 92 | 22 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 72 | 107 |
| North Adams State | 17 | 6 | 10 | 1 | .382 | 75 | 95 | 26 | 14 | 11 | 1 | | |
| Plattsburgh State | 18 | 5 | 13 | 0 | .278 | 55 | 132 | 23 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 85 | 144 |
| Brockport State | 12 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .250 | 43 | 76 | 20 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 89 | 121 |
| Williams | 17 | 4 | 13 | 0 | .235 | 58 | 96 | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | | |
| Potsdam State | 13 | 1 | 12 | 0 | .077 | 25 | 82 | 22 | 5 | 17 | 0 | | |
| Geneseo State | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 22 | 48 | 28 | 17 | 9 | 2 | | |
| Championship: March 16, 1977 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||
1976–77 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 |
| Chicago State | | | | | | |
| Hillsdale | | | | | | |
| Illinois-Chicago | 26 | 14 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Lake Forest | 24 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 122 | 110 |
| Mankato State | 28 | 17 | 10 | 1 | 150 | 118 |
| Oberlin | | | | | | |
| St. Cloud State | 24 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 125 | 133 |
1976–77 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 |
| Gustavus Adolphus † | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 24 | | | 24 | 19 | 4 | 1 | | |
| Augsburg † | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 24 | | | 27 | 19 | 7 | 1 | | |
| Concordia (MN) | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 17 | | | 24 | 13 | 19 | 1 | | |
| St. Thomas | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 16 | | | 24 | 8 | 16 | 0 | | |
| Saint John's | 14 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 13 | | | 22 | 7 | 14 | 1 | | |
| Hamline | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 12 | | | | | | | | |
| Saint Mary's | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 6 | | | 23 | 4 | 19 | 0 | | |
| St. Olaf | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | | | 20 | 1 | 19 | 0 | | |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||

## 1977 NHL Amateur Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | College | Conference | NHL team |
| 15 | 183 | John Costello | Lowell | ECAC 2 | Montreal Canadiens |
† incoming freshman