1977 CCHA men's ice hockey tournament
College ice hockey tournament
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The 1977 CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the sixth CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. It was played between March 4 and March 12, 1977. All games were played at St. Louis Arena in St. Louis, Missouri, the home venue of the St. Louis Billikens. By winning the tournament, Bowling Green received the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's first invitation to play in the NCAA Division I Tournament, a first round game created to allow entrance for the CCHA.
St. Louis, Missouri
| 1977 CCHA Men's ice hockey tournament | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 4–12, 1977 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Finals site | St. Louis Arena St. Louis, Missouri |
| Champions | Bowling Green[1] (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | Ron Mason[2] (1st title) |
CCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments | |
Format
The tournament featured two rounds of play. Only the top four teams in the conference standings were eligible for postseason play. Each of the two rounds were structured so that the two teams facing one another would play two games and the winner would be decided by the goal differential totals of the combined scores. In the semifinal the first and fourth seeds and the second and third seeds were matched as opponents. The victorious teams would then compete in the finals for the conference championship. The tournament champion was invited to play in a first round game in the 1977 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
Conference standings
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
| Conference | Overall | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | ||
| Saint Louis† | 16 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 89 | 52 | 39 | 27 | 11 | 1 | 197 | 128 | |
| Bowling Green* | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 20 | 94 | 52 | 39 | 28 | 11 | 0 | 209 | 113 | |
| Ohio State | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 17 | 64 | 74 | 38 | 17 | 20 | 1 | 160 | 178 | |
| Western Michigan | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 52 | 79 | 37 | 17 | 19 | 1 | 179 | 180 | |
| Lake Superior State | 16 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 56 | 98 | 33 | 10 | 23 | 0 | 139 | 197 | |
| Championship: Bowling Green † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion | ||||||||||||||
Bracket
| Semifinals March 4–5 | Championship March 11–12 | ||||||||||
| 1 | Saint Louis | 3 | 11 | ||||||||
| 4 | Western Michigan | 2 | 4 | ||||||||
| 1 | Saint Louis | 0 | 4 | ||||||||
| 2 | Bowling Green | 4 | 1 | ||||||||
| 2 | Bowling Green | 5 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | Ohio State | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Semifinals
(1) Saint Louis vs. (4) Western Michigan
| March 4 | Saint Louis | 3 – 2 | Western Michigan | St. Louis Arena | ||||
| March 5 | Saint Louis | 11 – 4 | Western Michigan | St. Louis Arena | ||||
| Saint Louis won series 14-6 | |
(2) Bowling Green vs. (3) Ohio State
| March 4 | Bowling Green | 5 – 2 | Ohio State | St. Louis Arena | ||||
| March 5 | Bowling Green | 4 – 1 | Ohio State | St. Louis Arena | ||||
| Bowling Green won series 9-3 | |
Championship
(1) Saint Louis vs. (2) Bowling Green
| March 11 | Saint Louis | 0 – 4 | Bowling Green | St. Louis Arena | ||||
| March 12 | Saint Louis | 4 – 1 | Bowling Green | St. Louis Arena | ||||
| Bowling Green won series 5-4 | |