# 1979–80 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season

The 1979–80 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season began in November 1979 and concluded on March 15 of the following year. This was the 16th season of second-tier college ice hockey.

## Regular season
### Season tournaments

| Tournament | Dates | Teams | Champion |
| Elmira Invitational | November 9–10 | 4 | St. Lawrence |
| Oswego Classic | November 16–17 | 4 | Merrimack |
| Merrimack Thanksgiving Tournament | November 23–24 | 4 | Merrimack |
| Union Tournament | December 21–22 | 4 | Holy Cross |
| Codfish Bowl | December 28–29 | 4 | Lowell |
| Blue-Gold Tournament | January 4–5 | 4 | Merrimack |
| Salem State Tournament | January 4–5 | 4 | Saint Anselm |
| Crusader Classic | January 5–6 | 4 | Holy Cross |
| Down East Classic | January 10–11 | 4 | |
| Teapot Tournament | January 7, 14 | 4 | |

### Standings

1979–80 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 |||||||||||||||
| Bowdoin † | 18 | 14 | 2 | 2 | .833 | 99 | 47 | 26 | 19 | 5 | 2 | | |
| Lowell | 23 | 19 | 4 | 0 | .826 | 183 | 76 | 30 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 212 | 107 |
| Salem State | 25 | 19 | 6 | 0 | .760 | 104 | 72 | 29 | 21 | 8 | 0 | | |
| Holy Cross | 21 | 15 | 6 | 0 | .714 | 120 | 70 | 30 | 21 | 9 | 0 | 182 | 100 |
| Babson | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | .667 | 78 | 63 | 28 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 95 | 80 |
| Merrimack * | 24 | 14 | 8 | 2 | .625 | 156 | 89 | 38 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 225 | 146 |
| New Haven | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0 | .600 | | | 25 | 15 | 10 | 0 | | |
| Colby | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0 | .600 | 89 | 63 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 0 | | |
| American International | 24 | 12 | 12 | 0 | .500 | 104 | 102 | 27 | 14 | 13 | 0 | | |
| Connecticut | 19 | 9 | 10 | 0 | .474 | 90 | 95 | 24 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 115 | 109 |
| New England College | 21 | 9 | 12 | 0 | .429 | 105 | 111 | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | | |
| Saint Anselm | 21 | 6 | 15 | 0 | .286 | 115 | 138 | 23 | 8 | 15 | 0 | 130 | 142 |
| Bridgewater State | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 71 | 100 | | | | | | |
| Bryant | 18 | 2 | 16 | 0 | .111 | 96 | 147 | | | | | | |
| Framingham State | 17 | 1 | 16 | 0 | .059 | 53 | 136 | 26 | 6 | 20 | 0 | | |
| Boston State | 23 | 0 | 23 | 0 | .000 | 51 | 209 | 26 | 1 | 25 | 0 | | |
| West Region |||||||||||||||
| Elmira † | 21 | 18 | 2 | 1 | .881 | 139 | 62 | 31 | 25 | 6 | 2 | 236 | 102 |
| Plattsburgh State | 25 | 18 | 5 | 2 | .760 | 143 | 94 | 31 | 20 | 9 | 2 | 161 | 122 |
| Oswego State * | 23 | 16 | 7 | 0 | .696 | 148 | 104 | 35 | 27 | 8 | 0 | 245 | 146 |
| Middlebury | 19 | 11 | 5 | 3 | .658 | 78 | 66 | 25 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 105 | 85 |
| Westfield State | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0 | .600 | 117 | 113 | 29 | 21 | 8 | 0 | | |
| Army | 26 | 15 | 10 | 1 | .596 | 149 | 88 | 32 | 19 | 12 | 1 | 205 | 141 |
| North Adams State | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | .550 | 101 | 90 | 24 | 14 | 10 | 0 | | |
| Geneseo State | 17 | 9 | 8 | 0 | .529 | | | 28 | 16 | 11 | 1 | | |
| Union | 27 | 12 | 14 | 1 | .463 | 92 | 114 | 28 | 12 | 15 | 1 | | |
| Williams | 21 | 9 | 12 | 0 | .429 | 91 | 105 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Norwich | 21 | 9 | 12 | 0 | .429 | 103 | 117 | 25 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 138 | 127 |
| Buffalo | 20 | 6 | 14 | 0 | .300 | 81 | 97 | 24 | 9 | 15 | 0 | | |
| Hamilton | 19 | 5 | 14 | 0 | .263 | 79 | 115 | 23 | 7 | 16 | 0 | | |
| Cortland State | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0 | .222 | 55 | 122 | | | | | | |
| Brockport State | 15 | 3 | 12 | 0 | .200 | 55 | 87 | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 108 | 109 |
| Potsdam State | 17 | 2 | 15 | 0 | .118 | 57 | 99 | 24 | 6 | 18 | 0 | | |
| Championships: March 8, 1980 † indicates division regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champions |||||||||||||||
1979–80 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 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 71 | 19 |
| Alaska–Fairbanks | 21 | 7 | 14 | 0 | | |
| Illinois-Chicago | 27 | 14 | 13 | 0 | | |
| Lake Forest | 24 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 142 | 114 |
| Mankato State | 40 | 30 | 9 | 1 | 291 | 144 |
| St. Cloud State | 29 | 19 | 9 | 1 | 152 | 118 |
1979–80 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 |
| Elmira † | 14 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 99 | 44 | 31 | 25 | 6 | 2 | 236 | 102 |
| Oswego State | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 94 | 52 | 35 | 27 | 8 | 0 | 245 | 146 |
| Plattsburgh State | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 92 | 61 | 31 | 20 | 9 | 2 | 161 | 122 |
| Brockport State | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 52 | 80 | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 108 | 109 |
| Buffalo | | | | | | | | 24 | 9 | 15 | 0 | | |
| Cortland State | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Geneseo State | | | | | | | | 28 | 16 | 11 | 1 | | |
| Potsdam State | | | | | | | | 24 | 6 | 18 | 0 | | |
| † indicates conference regular season champions |||||||||||||||
1979–80 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 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 28 | | | 28 | 20 | 8 | 0 | | |
| Concordia (MN) | 16 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 25 | | | 27 | 15 | 11 | 1 | | |
| St. Thomas | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 21 | | | 28 | 14 | 13 | 1 | | |
| Gustavus Adolphus | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 20 | | | 26 | 15 | 11 | 0 | | |
| Hamline | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 15 | | | | | | | | |
| Saint John's | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 14 | | | 27 | 9 | 18 | 0 | | |
| St. Olaf | 16 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 9 | | | 28 | 9 | 17 | 2 | | |
| Saint Mary's | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 8 | | | 27 | 8 | 19 | 0 | | |
| Bethel | 16 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 2 | | | 25 | 2 | 23 | 0 | | |
| † indicates conference regular season champion |||||||||||||||

## 1980 NCAA tournament

| Semifinals March 13–14 | Semifinals March 13–14 | Semifinals March 13–14 | National championship March 15 | National championship March 15 | National championship March 15 |
| W1 | Mankato State | 8 | | | |
| E2 | Lowell | 1 | | | |
| E2 | Lowell | 1 | W1 | Mankato State | 5 |
| | | | E3 | Elmira | 2 |
| E1 | Merrimack | 1 | E3 | Elmira | 2 |
| E3 | Elmira | 4 | Third-place game | Third-place game | Third-place game |
| | | | E1 | Merrimack | 7 |
| | | | E2 | Lowell | 8 |
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

## 1980 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | College | Conference | NHL team |
| 6 | 108 | Mark Kumpel | Lowell | ECAC 2 | Quebec Nordiques |
† incoming freshman