# 1981 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

The 1981 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 22nd conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 6 and March 15, 1981. All games were played at home team campus sites, including each of the two regional final series. By winning the regional tournaments, both Michigan Tech and Minnesota received automatic bids to the 1981 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
Though not official designations, Michigan Tech is considered as the East Regional Champion† and Minnesota as the West Regional Champion‡.
This was the final year that the WCHA crowned two teams as tournament champions. (as of 2014)

## Format

The top eight teams in the WCHA, according to their final conference standings, were eligible for the tournament and were seeded No. 1 through No. 8. In the first round the first and eighth seeds, the second and seventh seeds, the third and sixth seeds and the fourth and fifth seeds were matched in two-game series where the school that scored the higher number of goals was declared the winner. After the first round the remaining teams were reseeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to their final conference standings and advanced to the second round. In the second round the first and fourth seeds and the second and third seeds competed in an additional two-game, total goal series with the winners of each being declared as co-conference champions. The Tournament Champions each received automatic bids to the 1981 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
1980–81 Western Collegiate Hockey Association 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 |
| Minnesota†* | 28 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 40 | 152 | 104 | 45 | 33 | 12 | 0 | 261 | 174 |
| Wisconsin | 28 | 17 | 11 | 0 | 34 | 131 | 101 | 42 | 27 | 14 | 1 | 218 | 155 |
| Michigan Tech* | 28 | 17 | 11 | 0 | 34 | 118 | 102 | 44 | 29 | 14 | 1 | 195 | 155 |
| Denver | 28 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 32 | 120 | 111 | 40 | 23 | 15 | 2 | 233 | 197 |
| Michigan | 28 | 15 | 13 | 0 | 30 | 138 | 122 | 40 | 23 | 17 | 0 | 185 | 161 |
| North Dakota | 28 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 30 | 133 | 134 | 38 | 21 | 15 | 2 | 186 | 168 |
| Colorado College | 28 | 12 | 16 | 0 | 24 | 128 | 142 | 36 | 17 | 19 | 0 | 174 | 183 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 28 | 11 | 17 | 0 | 22 | 120 | 150 | 39 | 17 | 21 | 1 | 165 | 197 |
| Notre Dame | 28 | 9 | 18 | 1 | 19 | 100 | 137 | 36 | 13 | 21 | 2 | 139 | 166 |
| Michigan State | 28 | 7 | 20 | 1 | 15 | 82 | 119 | 36 | 12 | 22 | 2 | 116 | 144 |
| Championship: Michigan Tech, Minnesota † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||

## Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round
| First Round March 6–8 | First Round March 6–8 | First Round March 6–8 | First Round March 6–8 | Second Round March 13–15 | Second Round March 13–15 | Second Round March 13–15 | Second Round March 13–15 |
| 1 | Minnesota | 5 | 5 | | | | |
| 8 | Minnesota-Duluth | 1 | 7 | | | | |
| 8 | Minnesota-Duluth | 1 | 7 | 1 | Minnesota | 7 | 7 |
| | | | | 7 | Colorado College | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | Wisconsin | 8 | 4 | 7 | Colorado College | 1 | 9 |
| 7 | Colorado College | 2 | 11 | | | | |
| 3 | Michigan Tech | 7 | 4 | | | | |
| 6 | North Dakota | 4 | 1 | | | | |
| 6 | North Dakota | 4 | 1 | 3 | Michigan Tech | 2 | 7 |
| | | | | 5 | Michigan | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Denver | 2 | 4 | 5 | Michigan | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Michigan | 5 | 5 | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

### First round
#### (1) Minnesota vs. (8) Minnesota-Duluth

* Minnesota won series 10–8

#### (2) Wisconsin vs. (7) Colorado College

* Colorado College won series 13–12

#### (3) Michigan Tech vs. (6) North Dakota

* Michigan Tech won series 11–5

#### (4) Denver vs. (5) Michigan

* Michigan won series 10–6

### Second round
#### (1) Minnesota vs. (7) Colorado College

* Minnesota won series 14–10

#### (3) Michigan Tech vs. (5) Michigan

* Michigan Tech won series 9–2

## Tournament awards

None