# 1978–79 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season

The 1978–79 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season began in November 1978 and concluded on March 17, 1979. This was the 15th season of second-tier college ice hockey.

## Regular season
### Season tournaments

| Tournament | Dates | Teams | Champion |
| Billerica Forum Thanksgiving Tournament | November 22–23 | 4 | Plattsburgh State |
| Trinity Invitational | December 1–2 | 4 | Connecticut |
| Belco Tournament | December 22–23 | 4 | Holy Cross |
| Codfish Bowl | December 27–28 | 4 | Lowell |
| Cornell Holiday Festival | December 28–29 | 4 | Cornell |
| Blue-Gold Tournament | January 5–6 | 4 | American International |
| Crusader Classic | January 6–7 | 4 | Maine |
| Salem State Tournament | January 6–7 | 4 | Lowell |

### Standings

1978–79 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 * | 26 | 21 | 5 | 0 | .808 | 191 | 89 | 33 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 230 | 119 |
| Merrimack | 25 | 20 | 5 | 0 | .800 | 168 | 74 | 35 | 24 | 10 | 1 | 231 | 121 |
| Maine | 20 | 16 | 4 | 0 | .800 | 114 | 64 | 30 | 22 | 8 | 0 | 176 | 104 |
| Salem State † | 27 | 18 | 8 | 1 | .685 | | | 35 | 23 | 11 | 1 | | |
| Holy Cross | 23 | 15 | 8 | 0 | .619 | 121 | 75 | 28 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 157 | 92 |
| New Haven | 21 | 13 | 7 | 1 | .643 | | | 26 | 17 | 8 | 1 | | |
| Bowdoin | 17 | 10 | 7 | 0 | .588 | | | 25 | 13 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Babson | 19 | 11 | 8 | 0 | .579 | | | 23 | 15 | 8 | 0 | | |
| American International | 23 | 13 | 10 | 0 | .565 | | | 25 | 13 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Saint Anselm | 24 | 11 | 13 | 0 | .458 | 130 | 146 | 26 | 11 | 15 | 0 | 137 | 159 |
| Colby | 23 | 10 | 13 | 0 | .435 | | | 23 | 10 | 13 | 0 | | |
| New England College | 21 | 7 | 12 | 2 | .381 | | | 25 | 10 | 13 | 2 | | |
| Bridgewater State | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | | | 24 | 8 | 15 | 1 | | |
| Connecticut | 19 | 5 | 14 | 0 | .263 | 61 | 95 | 25 | 11 | 14 | 0 | 102 | 112 |
| Bryant | 23 | 6 | 17 | 0 | .261 | | | 27 | 8 | 19 | 0 | | |
| Boston State | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0 | .182 | | | 26 | 7 | 19 | 0 | | |
| West Region |||||||||||||||
| Plattsburgh State † | 24 | 22 | 2 | 0 | .917 | 193 | 84 | 29 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 219 | 97 |
| Elmira | 25 | 21 | 4 | 0 | .840 | 191 | 71 | 31 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 244 | 85 |
| Middlebury * | 19 | 14 | 4 | 1 | .763 | 102 | 60 | 26 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 138 | 83 |
| Westfield State | 19 | 14 | 4 | 1 | .763 | | | 28 | 20 | 8 | 0 | | |
| Norwich | 23 | 15 | 8 | 0 | .652 | 118 | 92 | 29 | 19 | 10 | 0 | 152 | 111 |
| Buffalo | 19 | 11 | 8 | 0 | .579 | | | 27 | 15 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Oswego State | 24 | 12 | 12 | 0 | .500 | 123 | 115 | 27 | 13 | 15 | 0 | 143 | 145 |
| Brockport State | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 52 | 86 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 112 | 136 |
| Geneseo State | 15 | 7 | 8 | 0 | .467 | | | 25 | 13 | 12 | 0 | | |
| North Adams State | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | .444 | | | 24 | 12 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Williams | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | .444 | | | 23 | 11 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Army | 21 | 6 | 15 | 0 | .286 | 80 | 131 | 28 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 110 | 174 |
| Hamilton | 20 | 5 | 15 | 0 | .250 | | | 23 | 7 | 16 | 0 | | |
| Union | 25 | 5 | 20 | 0 | .200 | | | 26 | 5 | 21 | 0 | | |
| Cortland State | 17 | 3 | 14 | 0 | .176 | | | 23 | 5 | 18 | 0 | | |
| Potsdam State | 19 | 2 | 17 | 0 | .105 | | | 24 | 4 | 20 | 0 | | |
| Massachusetts | 20 | 1 | 18 | 1 | .075 | 68 | 158 | 20 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 68 | 158 |
| Championships: March 10, 1979 † indicates division regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champions |||||||||||||||
1978–79 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 | | | | | | |
| Illinois-Chicago | 30 | 17 | 12 | 1 | | |
| Lake Forest | 24 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 194 | 90 |
| Mankato State | 38 | 25 | 12 | 1 | 223 | 148 |
| Oberlin | | | | | | |
| St. Cloud State | 24 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 128 | 122 |
1978–79 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 | 121 | 50 | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 157 | 79 |
| Elmira † | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 125 | 40 | 31 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 244 | 85 |
| Oswego State | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 80 | 67 | 27 | 13 | 15 | 0 | 143 | 145 |
| Brockport State | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 44 | 81 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 112 | 136 |
| Buffalo | | | | | | | | 27 | 15 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Cortland State | | | | | | | | 23 | 5 | 18 | 0 | | |
| Geneseo State | | | | | | | | 25 | 13 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Potsdam State | | | | | | | | 24 | 4 | 20 | 0 | | |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1978–79 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 | 0 | 1 | 27 | | | 28 | 23 | 4 | 1 | | |
| Concordia (MN) | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 18 | | | 27 | 15 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Gustavus Adolphus | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 18 | | | 28 | 14 | 14 | 0 | | |
| St. Thomas | 13 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 14 | | | 26 | 10 | 16 | 0 | | |
| Saint John's | 14 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 13 | | | 26 | 10 | 15 | 1 | | |
| Hamline | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 10 | | | 27 | 12 | 15 | 0 | | |
| Saint Mary's | 13 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 8 | | | 25 | 8 | 17 | 0 | | |
| St. Olaf | 14 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 2 | | | 27 | 4 | 23 | 0 | | |
| Bethel | x | x | x | x | x | | | 22 | 5 | 17 | 0 | | |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||

## 1979 NCAA tournament

| Semifinals March 15–16 | Semifinals March 15–16 | Semifinals March 15–16 | National championship March 17 | National championship March 17 | National championship March 17 |
| W1 | Mankato State | 5 | | | |
| E2 | Salem State | 3 | | | |
| E2 | Salem State | 3 | W1 | Mankato State | 4 |
| | | | E1 | Lowell | 6 |
| E1 | Lowell | 10 | E1 | Lowell | 6 |
| W2 | Illinois–Chicago | 6 | Third-place game | Third-place game | Third-place game |
| | | | W2 | Illinois–Chicago | 4* |
| | | | E2 | Salem State | 3 |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)