# 1980 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

The 1980 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 21st conference playoff in league history. The tournament was played between March 7 and March 15, 1980. 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 1980 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
1979–80 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†* | 28 | 21 | 6 | 1 | .768 | 147 | 89 | 40 | 31 | 8 | 1 | 217 | 119 |
| Minnesota* | 32 | 18 | 14 | 0 | .563 | 173 | 155 | 41 | 26 | 15 | 0 | 263 | 179 |
| Colorado College | 30 | 16 | 13 | 1 | .550 | 154 | 164 | 39 | 21 | 17 | 1 | 200 | 208 |
| Michigan | 26 | 13 | 11 | 2 | .538 | 131 | 118 | 38 | 23 | 13 | 2 | 205 | 167 |
| Notre Dame | 28 | 13 | 14 | 1 | .482 | 150 | 146 | 39 | 18 | 20 | 1 | 202 | 199 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 32 | 15 | 17 | 0 | .469 | 166 | 181 | 38 | 17 | 21 | 0 | 191 | 207 |
| Michigan Tech | 28 | 12 | 14 | 2 | .464 | 141 | 120 | 38 | 18 | 18 | 2 | 181 | 160 |
| Michigan State | 28 | 12 | 16 | 0 | .429 | 118 | 167 | 38 | 14 | 24 | 0 | 158 | 227 |
| Wisconsin | 30 | 12 | 18 | 0 | .400 | 146 | 146 | 36 | 15 | 20 | 1 | 172 | 182 |
| Denver | 26 | 8 | 17 | 1 | .327 | 95 | 135 | 36 | 13 | 22 | 1 | 141 | 169 |
| Championship: Minnesota, North Dakota † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |||||||||||||||

## Bracket

Teams are reseeded after the first round
| First Round March 7–8 | First Round March 7–8 | First Round March 7–8 | First Round March 7–8 | Second Round March 14–15 | Second Round March 14–15 | Second Round March 14–15 | Second Round March 14–15 |
| 1 | North Dakota | 8 | 5 | | | | |
| 8 | Michigan State | 1 | 3 | | | | |
| 8 | Michigan State | 1 | 3 | 1 | North Dakota | 10 | 7 |
| | | | | 5 | Notre Dame | 4 | 4 |
| 2 | Minnesota | 7 | 6 | 5 | Notre Dame | 4 | 4 |
| 7 | Michigan Tech | 2 | 3 | | | | |
| 3 | Colorado College | 4 | 7 | | | | |
| 6 | Minnesota-Duluth | 3 | 6 | | | | |
| 6 | Minnesota-Duluth | 3 | 6 | 2 | Minnesota | 5 | 8 |
| | | | | 3 | Colorado College | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Michigan | 3 | 4 | 3 | Colorado College | 3 | 1 |
| 5 | Notre Dame | 8 | 3 | | | | |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

### First round
#### (1) North Dakota vs. (8) Michigan State

* North Dakota won series 13–4

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

* Minnesota won series 13–5

#### (3) Colorado College vs. (6) Minnesota-Duluth

* Colorado College won series 11–9

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

* Notre Dame won series 11–7

### Second round
#### (1) North Dakota vs. (5) Notre Dame

* North Dakota won series 17–8

#### (2) Minnesota vs. (3) Colorado College

* Minnesota won series 13–4

## Tournament awards

None