# 1979 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

The 1979 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 20th conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 6 and March 11, 1979. All games were played at home team campus sites, including each of the two regional final series. By winning the regional tournaments, both Minnesota and North Dakota were invited to participate in the 1979 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.
Though not official designations, Minnesota is considered as the East Regional Champion† and North Dakota as the West Regional Champion‡.

## 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.

### Conference standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against
1978–79 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 |
| North Dakota†* | 32 | 22 | 10 | 0 | 44 | 168 | 110 | 42 | 30 | 11 | 1 | 245 | 144 |
| Minnesota* | 32 | 20 | 11 | 1 | 41 | 177 | 116 | 44 | 32 | 11 | 1 | 239 | 147 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 32 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 40 | 176 | 141 | 40 | 22 | 14 | 4 | 213 | 170 |
| Wisconsin | 32 | 19 | 11 | 2 | 40 | 164 | 138 | 41 | 25 | 13 | 3 | 215 | 172 |
| Notre Dame | 32 | 17 | 14 | 1 | 35 | 161 | 153 | 38 | 18 | 19 | 1 | 184 | 196 |
| Denver | 32 | 14 | 16 | 2 | 30 | 147 | 174 | 43 | 20 | 20 | 3 | 188 | 217 |
| Michigan Tech | 32 | 13 | 16 | 3 | 29 | 152 | 141 | 38 | 17 | 18 | 3 | 182 | 165 |
| Colorado College | 32 | 11 | 19 | 2 | 24 | 144 | 185 | 38 | 12 | 24 | 2 | 165 | 218 |
| Michigan State | 32 | 12 | 20 | 0 | 24 | 122 | 180 | 36 | 15 | 21 | 0 | 140 | 192 |
| Michigan | 32 | 6 | 25 | 1 | 13 | 117 | 190 | 36 | 8 | 27 | 1 | 132 | 210 |
| Championship: Minnesota, North Dakota † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||

## Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round
| First Round March 6–7 | First Round March 6–7 | First Round March 6–7 | First Round March 6–7 | Second Round March 10–11 | Second Round March 10–11 | Second Round March 10–11 | Second Round March 10–11 |
| 1 | North Dakota | 6 | 7 | | | | |
| 8 | Colorado College | 3 | 3 | | | | |
| 8 | Colorado College | 3 | 3 | 1 | North Dakota | 4 | 7 |
| | | | | 4 | Wisconsin | 2 | 7 |
| 2 | Minnesota | 5 | 6 | 4 | Wisconsin | 2 | 7 |
| 7 | Michigan Tech | 3 | 1 | | | | |
| 3 | Minnesota-Duluth | 5 | 2* | | | | |
| 6 | Denver | 2 | 4 | | | | |
| 6 | Denver | 2 | 4 | 2 | Minnesota | 2 | 6 |
| | | | | 3 | Minnesota-Duluth | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Wisconsin | 11 | 5 | 3 | Minnesota-Duluth | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Notre Dame | 5 | 5 | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

### First round
#### (1) North Dakota vs. (8) Colorado College

* North Dakota won series 13–6

#### (2) Minnesota vs. (7) Michigan Tech

* Minnesota won series 11–4

#### (3) Minnesota-Duluth vs. (6) Denver

* Minnesota-Duluth won series 7–6

#### (4) Wisconsin vs. (5) Notre Dame

* Wisconsin won series 16–10

### Second round
#### (1) North Dakota vs. (4) Wisconsin

* North Dakota won series 11–9

#### (2) Minnesota vs. (3) Minnesota-Duluth

* Minnesota won series 8–4

## Tournament awards

None