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[1] 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, doubled the number of participants beginning with this season, no NYCHA tournament was ever held.[2]