# 1980 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament

The 1980 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the culmination of the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, the 33rd such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 22 and 29, 1980, and concluded with North Dakota defeating Northern Michigan 5–2. The first-round game was held at the home team venue while all succeeding games were played at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

## Qualifying teams

The NCAA gave four teams automatic bids into the tournament. The two ECAC teams that reached the ECAC tournament final received bids as did the two WCHA co-champions. The NCAA also had the ability to add up to 4 additional teams as it saw fit and chose to include the CCHA tournament champion as well.
| East | East | East | East | East | East | East | West | West | West | West | West | West | West |
| Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| 1 | Cornell | ECAC Hockey | 16–13–0 | Tournament champion | 7th | 1973 | 1 | North Dakota | WCHA | 29–8–1 | Tournament co-champion | 8th | 1979 |
| 2 | Dartmouth | ECAC Hockey | 18–10–1 | Tournament finalist | 4th | 1979 | 2 | Minnesota | WCHA | 26–14–0 | Tournament co-champion | 9th | 1979 |
| | | | | | | | At-Large | At-Large | At-Large | At-Large | At-Large | At-Large | At-Large |
| | | | | | | | Seed | School | Conference | Record | Berth type | Appearance | Last bid |
| | | | | | | | A | Northern Michigan | CCHA | 32–5–1 | Tournament champion | 1st | Never |

## Format

The four automatic qualifiers were seeded according to pre-tournament finish. The ECAC champion was seeded as the top eastern team while the WCHA co-champion that finished highest in the regular season was given the top western seed. The second eastern seed was slotted to play the top western seed and vice versa. Because an at-large bid was offered to a western school they were placed in a first-round game with the second western seed to determine the final semifinalist. The first-round game was played at the home venue of the second seed while all succeeding games were played at the Providence Civic Center. All matches were Single-game eliminations with the semifinal winners advancing to the national championship game and the losers playing in a consolation game.

## Tournament bracket

| First round March 22 | First round March 22 | First round March 22 | Semifinals March 27–28 | Semifinals March 27–28 | Semifinals March 27–28 | National championship March 29 | National championship March 29 | National championship March 29 |
| | | | E1 | Cornell | 4 | | | |
| | | | A | Northern Michigan | 5 | | | |
| W2 | Minnesota | 3 | A | Northern Michigan | 5 | | | |
| A | Northern Michigan | 4 | | | | | | |
| A | Northern Michigan | 4 | | | | A | Northern Michigan | 2 |
| | | | | | | W1 | North Dakota | 5 |
| | | | W1 | North Dakota | 4 | Third-place game | Third-place game | Third-place game |
| | | | E2 | Dartmouth | 1 |
| | | | E2 | Dartmouth | 1 | E1 | Cornell | 4 |
| | | | | | | E2 | Dartmouth | 8 |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

### National Championship
#### (W1) North Dakota vs. (A) Northern Michigan

Scoring summary :
| Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
| 1st | UND | Doug Smail | Sykes and Taylor | 9:43 | 1–0 UND |
| 1st | UND | Doug Smail | Sykes and Dunn | 12:48 | 2–0 UND |
| 2nd | UND | Doug Smail – GW | Sykes | 23:12 | 3–0 UND |
| 3rd | UND | Phil Sykes | unassisted | 48:42 | 4–0 UND |
| 3rd | NMU | Bill Joyce | Waddell and Laidlaw | 54:29 | 4–1 UND |
| 3rd | NMU | Terry Houck | Hanson and Pyle | 55:20 | 4–2 UND |
| 3rd | UND | Doug Smail | Sykes and Burggraf | 58:21 | 5–2 UND |
Shots by period :
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
| Northern Michigan | 5 | 5 | 12 | 22 |
| North Dakota | 13 | 20 | 12 | 45 |
Goaltenders :
| Team | Name | Saves | Goals against | Time on ice |
| NMU | Steve Weeks | 40 | 5 | |
| UND | Darren Jensen | 20 | 2 | |

## All-Tournament team

* G: Steve Weeks (Northern Michigan)
* D: Marc Chorney (North Dakota)
* D: Tom Laidlaw (Northern Michigan)
* F: Roy Kerling (Cornell)
* F: Doug Smail* (North Dakota)
* F: Phil Sykes (North Dakota)
* Most Outstanding Player(s)