# 1980–81 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season

The 1980–81 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season began in November 1980 and concluded on March 14, 1981. This was the 17th season of second-tier college ice hockey.

## Regular season
### Season tournaments

| Tournament | Dates | Teams | Champion |
| North Country Thanksgiving Festival | November 27–29 | 4 | Clarkson |
| Merrimack Tournament | November 28–29 | 4 | Plattsburgh State |
| Crusader Classic | December 6–7 | 4 | Holy Cross |
| Union Holiday Tournament | December 19–20 | 4 | Oswego State |
| Rensselaer Holiday Tournament | December 28–30 | 4 | Maine |
| Codfish Bowl | | 4 | Westfield State |
| Auld Lang Syne Classic | December 30–31 | 4 | Dartmouth |
| Down East Classic | January 8–9 | 4 | Maine |
| Teapot Tournament | January 5, 11 | 4 | |

### Standings

1980–81 ECAC 2 standingsvte :
| | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Conference | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall |
| | GP | W | L | T | Pct. | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| East Region |||||||||||||||
| Lowell †* | 21 | 18 | 3 | 0 | .857 | 125 | 72 | 32 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 188 | 123 |
| Merrimack | 23 | 17 | 6 | 0 | .739 | 141 | 90 | 35 | 19 | 16 | 0 | 191 | 174 |
| Salem State | 23 | 16 | 6 | 1 | .717 | | | 31 | 20 | 10 | 1 | | |
| New England College | 20 | 14 | 6 | 0 | .700 | | | 24 | 16 | 8 | 0 | | |
| Colby | 21 | 13 | 8 | 0 | .619 | | | 23 | 13 | 10 | 0 | | |
| Bowdoin | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | .611 | | | 26 | 14 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Babson | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | .550 | 85 | 79 | 24 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 111 | 87 |
| Holy Cross | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | .500 | 133 | 109 | 31 | 14 | 17 | 0 | 186 | 171 |
| American International | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | .500 | | | 24 | 12 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Saint Anselm | 20 | 7 | 12 | 1 | .375 | 91 | 111 | 23 | 8 | 14 | 1 | 104 | 142 |
| New Haven | 21 | 6 | 15 | 0 | .286 | | | 25 | 9 | 16 | 0 | | |
| Bridgewater State | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .200 | | | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | | |
| Framingham State | 11 | 1 | 10 | 0 | .091 | | | 18 | 3 | 15 | 0 | | |
| Boston State | 15 | 1 | 14 | 0 | .067 | | | 20 | 3 | 17 | 0 | | |
| Connecticut | 16 | 1 | 15 | 0 | .063 | 49 | 83 | 21 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 79 | 104 |
| West Region |||||||||||||||
| Oswego State † | 22 | 19 | 2 | 1 | .886 | 136 | 73 | 30 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 205 | 97 |
| Plattsburgh State * | 22 | 17 | 3 | 2 | .818 | 131 | 84 | 33 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 206 | 124 |
| Elmira | 25 | 18 | 7 | 0 | .720 | 132 | 81 | 30 | 20 | 10 | 0 | 161 | 110 |
| Williams | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | .719 | | | 23 | 16 | 4 | 3 | | |
| Norwich | 23 | 14 | 8 | 1 | .630 | 126 | 94 | 30 | 18 | 11 | 1 | 165 | 141 |
| Westfield State | 20 | 11 | 8 | 1 | .575 | | | 29 | 17 | 11 | 1 | | |
| North Adams State | 20 | 11 | 8 | 1 | .575 | | | 23 | 14 | 8 | 1 | | |
| RIT | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 62 | 63 | 24 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 108 | 80 |
| Potsdam State | 21 | 9 | 12 | 0 | .429 | | | 24 | 12 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Brockport State | 21 | 8 | 12 | 1 | .405 | 99 | 109 | 25 | 11 | 13 | 1 | 122 | 120 |
| Hamilton | 19 | 6 | 10 | 3 | .395 | | | 25 | 9 | 13 | 3 | | |
| Buffalo | 21 | 7 | 12 | 0 | .368 | | | 24 | 9 | 13 | 2 | | |
| Geneseo State | 18 | 5 | 13 | 0 | .278 | | | 25 | 8 | 17 | 0 | | |
| Middlebury | 18 | 4 | 13 | 1 | .250 | 57 | 78 | 23 | 7 | 15 | 1 | 77 | 96 |
| Union | 26 | 6 | 20 | 0 | .231 | | | 28 | 6 | 21 | 1 | | |
| Cortland State | 15 | 1 | 14 | 0 | .067 | | | 20 | 2 | 18 | 0 | | |
| Championships: March 7, 1981 † indicates division regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champions |||||||||||||||
1980–81 NCAA Division II Independent ice hockey standingsvte :
| | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Alaska–Anchorage | 24 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 126 | 104 |
| Alaska–Fairbanks | 24 | 1 | 23 | 0 | - | - |
| Illinois-Chicago | 26 | 9 | 17 | 0 | | |
| Lake Forest | 24 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 128 | 135 |
1980–81 Northern 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 |
| Mankato State † | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 78 | 64 | 39 | 28 | 11 | 0 | 227 | 151 |
| Bemidji State | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 63 | 39 | 31 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 195 | 89 |
| St. Cloud State | 13 | 7 | 5 | 1 | .577 | 54 | 48 | 31 | 19 | 11 | 1 | 169 | 110 |
| Wisconsin–Superior | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | .500 | 64 | 61 | 31 | 15 | 13 | 3 | 162 | 164 |
| Wisconsin–Eau Claire | 17 | 5 | 11 | 1 | .324 | 58 | 84 | 28 | 11 | 16 | 1 | 104 | 123 |
| Wisconsin–River Falls | 12 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .250 | 41 | 61 | 30 | 11 | 19 | 0 | 127 | 151 |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1980–81 NYCHA 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 |
| Oswego State † | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 88 | 45 | 30 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 205 | 97 |
| Plattsburgh State | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 93 | 59 | 33 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 206 | 124 |
| Elmira | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 82 | 43 | 30 | 20 | 10 | 0 | 161 | 110 |
| Brockport State | 14 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 70 | 75 | 25 | 11 | 13 | 1 | 122 | 120 |
| Buffalo | | | | | | | | 24 | 9 | 13 | 2 | | |
| Cortland State | | | | | | | | 20 | 2 | 18 | 0 | | |
| Geneseo State | | | | | | | | 25 | 8 | 17 | 0 | | |
| Potsdam State | | | | | | | | 24 | 12 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Note: Buffalo 4-5-2 in league as of 2/9, Geneseo 4-9-0 as of 2/22. † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||
1980–81 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference ice hockey 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 |
| Augsburg † | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 24 | | | 30 | 24 | 6 | 0 | | |
| Concordia (MN) † | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 24 | | | 31 | 21 | 9 | 1 | | |
| Gustavus Adolphus | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 22 | | | 26 | 18 | 8 | 0 | | |
| St. Thomas | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 18 | | | 30 | 15 | 15 | 0 | | |
| Saint Mary's | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 16 | | | 29 | 13 | 16 | 0 | | |
| St. Olaf | 15 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 15 | | | 30 | 13 | 16 | 1 | | |
| Hamline | 15 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 14 | | | | | | | | |
| Bethel | 16 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 5 | | | 27 | 3 | 23 | 1 | | |
| Saint John's | 16 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 2 | | | 27 | 3 | 22 | 2 | | |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||

## 1981 NCAA tournament

| Semifinals March 12–13 | Semifinals March 12–13 | Semifinals March 12–13 | National championship March 14 | National championship March 14 | National championship March 14 |
| W1 | Concordia | 4 | | | |
| E2 | Plattsburgh State | 10 | | | |
| E2 | Plattsburgh State | 10 | E2 | Plattsburgh State | 4 |
| | | | E1 | Lowell | 5 |
| E1 | Lowell | 8* | E1 | Lowell | 5 |
| W2 | Mankato State | 7 | Third-place game | Third-place game | Third-place game |
| | | | W1 | Concordia | 7 |
| | | | W2 | Mankato State | 9 |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)