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
Bracket
Teams are reseeded after the first round
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
First round
(1) North Dakota vs. (8) Michigan State
(2) Minnesota vs. (7) Michigan Tech
(3) Colorado College vs. (6) Minnesota-Duluth
(4) Michigan vs. (5) Notre Dame
Second round
(1) North Dakota vs. (5) Notre Dame
(2) Minnesota vs. (3) Colorado College
Tournament awards None
See also Western Collegiate Hockey Association men's champions
References
External links WCHA.com 1979–80 WCHA Standings 1979–80 NCAA Standings 2013–14 Colorado College Tigers Media Guide 2013–14 Michigan Wolverines Media Guide; Through the Years 2013–14 Michigan State Spartans Media Guide; Section 5 2013–14 Minnesota Golden Gophers Media Guide 2012–13 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs Media Guide 2013–14 North Dakota Hockey Media Guide 2008–09 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Media Guide; History