1980–81 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season

The 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season began in October 1980 and concluded with the 1981 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament's championship game on March 28, 1981 at the Duluth Arena in Duluth, Minnesota. This was the 34th season in which an NCAA ice hockey championship was held and is the 86th year overall where an NCAA school fielded a team.
For the first time the Hobey Baker Award was conferred after the conclusion of the regular season.
After the season four teams from the WCHA left to join the CCHA. As a result of dividing the four Big Ten schools that had previously been in the WCHA the Big Ten stopped declaring a conference ice hockey champion until the formation of a separate conference in 2013–14.
==Regular season==
===Season tournaments===
Tournament 	Dates 	Teams	Champion
Elmira Invitational 	November 14–15	4 	St. Lawrence
North Country Thanksgiving Festival	November 27–29	4 	Clarkson
Empire Cup 	December 20–21	4 	Colgate
I Love New York Tournament 	November 22–24	4 	St. Lawrence
Great Lakes Invitational 	December 27–28	4 	Michigan Tech
First National Hockey Tournament 	December 27–29	4 	Cornell
Western Michigan Tournament 	December 28–29	4 	Western Michigan
Rensselaer Holiday Tournament 	December 28–30	4 	Maine
Auld Lang Syne Classic 	December 30–31	4 	Dartmouth
Yale Invitational 	January 2–3 	4 	North Dakota
Colonial Bank Hockey Invitational 	January 3–4 	4 	Clarkson
Beanpot 	February 2, 9 	4 	Harvard
===Standings===
==1981 NCAA Tournament==
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
==Player stats==
===Scoring leaders===
The following players led the league in points at the conclusion of the season.
 
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player	Class 	Team 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
 	Sophomore	Minnesota 	45	47	59	106	24
 	Senior 	Minnesota 	45	41	52	93 	18
 	Junior 	Northern Michigan	44	35	55	90 	46
 	Junior 	Northern Michigan	40	35	53	88 	20
 	Sophomore	Minnesota 	44	39	47	86 	30
 	Freshman 	North Dakota 	38	33	45	78 	28
 	Senior 	Wisconsin 	42	26	49	75 	44
 	Junior 	Western Michigan 	36	28	43	71 	22
 	Sophomore	Minnesota 	36	17	54	71 	56
 	Junior 	Colgate 	33	37	31	68 	164
 	Senior 	Clarkson 	37	24	44	68 	38
===Leading goaltenders===
The following goaltenders led the league in goals against average at the end of the regular season while playing at least 33% of their team's total minutes.
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Player	Class 	Team 	GP	Min 	W 	L 	OT	GA 	SO	SV% 	GAA
 	Freshman 	Clarkson 	29	1740	22	3 	4 	84 	2 	.904	2.92
 	Junior 	St. Lawrence 	21	1196	10	10	1 	64 	0 	.895	3.21
 	Senior 	Michigan Tech 	28	1701	- 	- 	- 	91 	1 	.895	3.21
 	Freshman 	Northern Michigan	32	1853	- 	- 	- 	101	0 	.895	3.27
 	Sophomore	Wisconsin 	16	913 	11	4 	1 	50 	0 	.909	3.29
 	Freshman 	Miami 	19	1053	8 	10	1 	73 	0 	- 	3.40
 	Sophomore	Cornell 	18	912 	8 	7 	0 	52 	1 	.908	3.42
 	Junior 	Denver 	31	1885	17	12	2 	110	0 	.882	3.50
 	Senior 	Ohio State 	37	2098	22	9 	3 	125	2 	.896	3.57
 	Junior 	Cornell 	19	967 	11	4 	1 	58 	1 	.904	3.60
==Awards==
===NCAA===
Award 	Award 	Recipient
Hobey Baker Memorial Award 	Hobey Baker Memorial Award 	Neal Broten, Minnesota
Spencer Penrose Award (Coach of the Year) 	Spencer Penrose Award (Coach of the Year) 	Bill O'Flaherty, Clarkson
Most Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament	Most Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament	Marc Behrend, Wisconsin
AHCA All-American Teams 	AHCA All-American Teams	AHCA All-American Teams
East Team 	  Position   	West Team
Don Sylvestri, Clarkson 	G 	Paul Fricker, Michigan
Mark Fusco, Harvard 	D 	Marc Chorney, North Dakota
Ed Small, Clarkson 	D 	Tim Watters, Michigan Tech
Sandy Beadle, Northeastern	F 	Steve Bozek , Northern Michigan
Bryan Cleaver, Clarkson 	F 	Neal Broten, Minnesota
Gary Conn, Maine 	F 	Aaron Broten, Minnesota
===CCHA===
Awards 	Awards 	Recipient
Player of the Year	Player of the Year	Jeff Pyle, Northern Michigan
Rookie of the Year	Rookie of the Year	Jeff Poeschl, Northern Michigan
 	 	Paul Pooley, Ohio State
Coach of the Year 	Coach of the Year 	Rick Comley, Northern Michigan
All-CCHA Teams 	All-CCHA Teams 	All-CCHA Teams
First Team 	  Position  	Second Team
Mike Blake, Ohio State 	G 	Jeff Poeschl, Northern Michigan
Dan Mandich, Ohio State 	D 	
Jim File, Ferris State 	D 	
George Harrison, Ferris State 	D 	
Brent Morrow, Ohio State 	D 	
Jeff Pyle, Northern Michigan 	F 	Paul Pooley, Ohio State
Steve Bozek, Northern Michigan 	F 	George McPhee, Bowling Green
Ross Fitzpatrick, Western Michigan	F 	Brian Hills, Bowling Green
===ECAC===
Award 	Award 	Recipient
Player of the Year 	Player of the Year 	Ed Small, Clarkson
Rookie of the Year 	Rookie of the Year 	Don Sylvestri, Clarkson
Most Outstanding Player in Tournament	Most Outstanding Player in Tournament	Kurt Kleinendorst, Providence
All-ECAC Hockey Teams 	All-ECAC Hockey Teams 	All-ECAC Hockey Teams
First Team 	  Position  	Second Team
Don Sylvestri, Clarkson 	G 	Jeff Nord, Maine
Ed Small, Clarkson 	D 	Chris Renaud, Colgate
Mark Fusco, Harvard 	D 	Andre Aubut, Maine
Bryan Cleaver, Clarkson 	F 	Billy O'Dwyer, Boston College
Gary Conn, Maine 	F 	Steve Cruickshank, Clarkson
Sandy Beadle, Northeastern	F 	Dan Fridgen, Colgate
===WCHA===
Award 	Award 	Recipient
Most Valuable Player	Most Valuable Player	Steve Ulseth, Minnesota
Freshman of the Year	Freshman of the Year	Ron Scott, Michigan State
Coach of the Year 	Coach of the Year 	John Giordano, Michigan
All-WCHA Teams 	All-WCHA Teams 	All-WCHA Teams
First Team 	  Position  	Second Team
Ron Scott, Michigan State 	G 	Paul Fricker, Michigan
Marc Chorney, North Dakota	D 	John Blum, Michigan
Tim Watters, Michigan Tech	D 	Theran Welsh, Wisconsin
Steve Ulseth, Minnesota 	F 	Ken Berry, Denver
Neal Broten, Minnesota 	F 	Bruce Aikens, Colorado College
Aaron Broten, Minnesota 	F 	Troy Murray, North Dakota
==References==
==External links==
*College Hockey Historical Archives
*1980–81 NCAA Standings
 
NCAA