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
1978 NCAA tournament
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Drafted players
Round Pick Player College Conference NHL team 9 153 Lowell ECAC 2 Boston Bruins 18 230 Merrimack ECAC 2 Montreal Canadiens † incoming freshman
See also 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season 1977–78 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey season
References
External links