# 1981–82 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season

The 1981–82 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season began in November 1981 and concluded on March 20, 1982. This was the 18th season of second-tier college ice hockey.
Boston State began merging with Massachusetts–Boston in September 1981. Because of this Boston State did not field a team for the 1981–82 season though they were still considered members of ECAC 2. After the merger was completed Massachusetts–Boston promoted their program from Division III to Division II beginning with the 1982–83 season.

## Regular season
### Season tournaments

| Tournament | Dates | Teams | Champion |
| Elmira Tournament | November 13–14 | 4 | Guelph |
| Granite State Tournament | November 13–14 | 4 | New England College |
| Crusader Classic | November 26–27 | 4 | Holy Cross |
| Merrimack Thanksgiving Tournament | November 27–28 | 4 | Merrimack |
| Miller Invitational | December 4–5 | 4 | Michigan–Dearborn |
| Codfish Bowl | | 4 | Babson |
| I Love New York Tournament | December 29–30 | 4 | Clarkson |
| Blue-Gold Tournament | January 2–3 | 4 | Merrimack |
| Salem State Tournament | January 2–3 | 4 | |
| Williams Invitational | January 2–3 | 4 | Plattsburgh State |
| Teapot Tournament | January 19, 26 | 4 | Lowell |

### Standings

1981–82 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 |||||||||||||||
| Lowell †* | 20 | 19 | 1 | 0 | .950 | 158 | 49 | 35 | 31 | 4 | 0 | 247 | 94 |
| Babson | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | .750 | | | 29 | 20 | 7 | 2 | 133 | 103 |
| Merrimack | 26 | 17 | 8 | 1 | .673 | 136 | 101 | 40 | 22 | 17 | 1 | 188 | 175 |
| New England College | 25 | 15 | 9 | 1 | .620 | | | 26 | 15 | 10 | 1 | | |
| Colby | 21 | 12 | 7 | 2 | .619 | | | 23 | 12 | 9 | 2 | |
| Bowdoin | 19 | 11 | 8 | 0 | .579 | | | 25 | 13 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Salem State | 26 | 14 | 11 | 1 | .558 | | | 31 | 16 | 14 | 1 | | |
| Holy Cross | 24 | 12 | 10 | 2 | .542 | 116 | 124 | 33 | 16 | 15 | 2 | 152 | 182 |
| New Haven | 21 | 10 | 11 | 0 | .476 | | | 25 | 12 | 12 | 1 | | |
| Saint Anselm | 20 | 8 | 12 | 0 | .400 | 108 | 132 | 25 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 147 | 151 |
| Connecticut | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 74 | 92 | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 109 | 106 |
| American International | 19 | 4 | 15 | 0 | .211 | | | 27 | 7 | 20 | 0 | | |
| Boston State ^ | 15 | 1 | 14 | 0 | .067 | | | 21 | 2 | 19 | 0 | | |
| Framingham State | 15 | 0 | 15 | 0 | .000 | | | 25 | 5 | 20 | 0 | | |
| West Region |||||||||||||||
| Oswego State † | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | .773 | 147 | 98 | 30 | 21 | 9 | 0 | 176 | 137 |
| Plattsburgh State * | 25 | 18 | 6 | 1 | .740 | 175 | 102 | 40 | 25 | 13 | 2 | 246 | 180 |
| North Adams State | 23 | 16 | 7 | 0 | .696 | | | 29 | 20 | 8 | 1 | | |
| RIT | 24 | 16 | 7 | 1 | .688 | 132 | 86 | 31 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 164 | 118 |
| Norwich | 25 | 16 | 9 | 0 | .640 | | | 33 | 17 | 15 | 1 | 163 | 147 |
| Williams | 18 | 10 | 7 | 1 | .583 | | | 22 | 12 | 11 | 1 | | |
| Union | 24 | 13 | 10 | 1 | .563 | | | 29 | 13 | 15 | 1 | | |
| Elmira | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | .500 | 105 | 107 | 29 | 12 | 17 | 0 | 122 | 152 |
| Westfield State | 21 | 9 | 12 | 0 | .429 | | | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0 | | |
| Middlebury | 17 | 6 | 9 | 2 | .412 | 59 | 75 | 23 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 90 | 101 |
| Hamilton | 19 | 7 | 12 | 0 | .368 | | | 24 | 11 | 13 | 0 | | |
| Brockport State | 19 | 4 | 15 | 0 | .211 | 87 | 112 | 27 | 8 | 19 | 0 | 134 | 156 |
| Buffalo | | | | | | | | 23 | 7 | 15 | 1 | | |
| Cortland State | | | | | | | | 29 | 6 | 22 | 1 | | |
| Geneseo State | | | | | | | | 26 | 10 | 16 | 0 | | |
| Potsdam State | | | | | | | | 27 | 12 | 13 | 2 | | |
| Championships: March 7, 1982 † indicates division regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champions ^ Boston State did not field a team due to the college merging with Massachusetts–Boston |||||||||||||||
1981–82 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–Anchorage | 27 | 15 | 12 | 0 | 119 | 111 |
| Alaska–Fairbanks | 23 | 4 | 19 | 0 | 70 | 159 |
| Lake Forest | 24 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 111 | 132 |
| St. Scholastica | 29 | 17 | 11 | 1 | | |
| Wisconsin–Stevens Point | 23 | 2 | 20 | 1 | | |
1981–82 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 † | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 32 | | | 30 | 28 | 1 | 1 | | |
| Gustavus Adolphus | 16 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 26 | | | 31 | 22 | 9 | 0 | | |
| St. Olaf | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 20 | | | 27 | 13 | 13 | 1 | | |
| Concordia (MN) | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 18 | | | 27 | 13 | 14 | 0 | | |
| Hamline | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 16 | | | | | | | | |
| Bethel | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 16 | | | 30 | 15 | 15 | 0 | | |
| St. Thomas | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 8 | | | 27 | 8 | 19 | 0 | | |
| Saint Mary's | 16 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| Saint John's | 16 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 6 | | | 24 | 4 | 20 | 0 | | |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1981–82 Northern Collegiate Hockey Association 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 |
| Bemidji State † | 20 | 16 | 3 | 1 | .825 | 90 | 49 | 31 | 25 | 5 | 1 | 173 | 76 |
| Mankato State | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | .639 | 78 | 64 | 32 | 22 | 9 | 1 | 190 | 101 |
| Wisconsin–River Falls | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | .550 | 89 | 95 | 34 | 21 | 13 | 0 | 184 | 152 |
| St. Cloud State | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0 | .450 | 87 | 74 | 29 | 14 | 15 | 0 | 134 | 107 |
| Wisconsin–Eau Claire | 20 | 6 | 13 | 1 | .325 | 57 | 82 | 32 | 12 | 19 | 1 | 132 | 128 |
| Wisconsin–Superior | 18 | 3 | 14 | 1 | .194 | 48 | 103 | 33 | 12 | 20 | 1 | 135 | 167 |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1981–82 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 |
| Oswego State † | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 97 | 53 | 30 | 21 | 9 | 0 | 176 | 137 |
| RIT | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 84 | 52 | 31 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 164 | 118 |
| Elmira | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 71 | 51 | 29 | 12 | 17 | 0 | 122 | 152 |
| Potsdam State | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 15 | | | 27 | 12 | 13 | 2 | | |
| Brockport State | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 10 | | | 27 | 8 | 19 | 0 | 134 | 156 |
| Cortland State | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 8 | | | | | | | | |
| Buffalo | 13 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 7 | | | 23 | 7 | 15 | 1 | | |
| Geneseo State | 13 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 6 | | | 26 | 10 | 16 | 0 | | |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||

## 1982 NCAA Tournament

| Quarterfinals March 12–14 | Quarterfinals March 12–14 | Quarterfinals March 12–14 | Quarterfinals March 12–14 | Semifinals March 18–19 | Semifinals March 18–19 | National Championship March 20 | National Championship March 20 |
| Lowell | 9 | 3 | 12 | | | | |
| Oswego State | 5 | 4 | 9 | | | | |
| Oswego State | 5 | 4 | 9 | Lowell | 4 | | |
| | | | | Merrimack | 3 | | |
| Merrimack | 5 | 6 | 11 | Merrimack | 3 | | |
| Mankato State | 3 | 4 | 7 | | | | |
| Mankato State | 3 | 4 | 7 | | | Lowell | 6 |
| | | | | | | Plattsburgh State | 1 |
| Plattsburgh State | 4 | 1 | 5 | | | | | Plattsburgh State | 1 |
| Babson | 3 | 1 | 4 | | |
| Babson | 3 | 1 | 4 | Plattsburgh State | 4 | Third place | Third place |
| | | | | Gustavus Adolphus | 3 |
| Gustavus Adolphus | 7 | 9 | 16 | Gustavus Adolphus | 3 | Merrimack | 5 |
| St. Scholastica | 4 | 1 | 5 | | | Gustavus Adolphus | 8 |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)