1980 WCHA men's ice hockey tournament

1980 WCHA Men's ice hockey tournament
DatesMarch 7–15, 1980
Teams8
Finals siteWilliams Arena
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Winter Sports Center
Grand Forks, North Dakota
ChampionsMinnesota†[1] (7th title)
North Dakota‡[2] (4th title)
Winning coachBrad Buetow[3] (1st title)
John Gasparini[4] (2nd title)
WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournaments

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 standings
Conference 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

[5]

Bracket

[6] Teams are reseeded after the first round

First Round
March 7–8 		Second Round
March 14–15
        
1 North Dakota 8 5
8 Michigan State 1 3
1 North Dakota 10 7
5 Notre Dame 4 4
2 Minnesota 7 6
7 Michigan Tech 2 3
3 Colorado College 4 7
6 Minnesota-Duluth 3 6
2 Minnesota 5 8
3 Colorado College 3 1
4 Michigan 3 4
5 Notre Dame 8 3

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

First round

(1) North Dakota vs. (8) Michigan State

March 7 North Dakota 8 – 1 Michigan State Winter Sports Center
March 8 North Dakota 5 – 3 Michigan State Winter Sports Center
North Dakota won series 13–4


(2) Minnesota vs. (7) Michigan Tech

March 7 Minnesota 7 – 2 Michigan Tech Williams Arena
March 8 Minnesota 6 – 3 Michigan Tech Williams Arena
Minnesota won series 13–5


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

March 7 Colorado College 4 – 3 Minnesota-Duluth Broadmoor World Arena
March 8 Colorado College 7 – 6 Minnesota-Duluth Broadmoor World Arena
Colorado College won series 11–9


(4) Michigan vs. (5) Notre Dame

March 7 Michigan 3 – 8 Notre Dame Yost Ice Arena
March 8 Michigan 4 – 3 Notre Dame Yost Ice Arena
Notre Dame won series 11–7


Second round

(1) North Dakota vs. (5) Notre Dame

March 14 North Dakota 10 – 4 Notre Dame Winter Sports Center
March 15 North Dakota 7 – 4 Notre Dame Winter Sports Center
North Dakota won series 17–8


(2) Minnesota vs. (3) Colorado College

March 14 Minnesota 5 – 3 Colorado College Williams Arena
March 15 Minnesota 8 – 1 Colorado College Williams Arena
Minnesota won series 13–4


Tournament awards

None

See also

References

  1. ^ "Minnesota Men's Team History". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  2. ^ "North Dakota Men's Team History". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  3. ^ "Brad Buetow Year-by-Year Coaching Record". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  4. ^ "John "Gino" Gasparini Year-by-Year Coaching Record". Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  5. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 113-128" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  6. ^ "2009-10 WCHA Yearbook 129-144" (PDF). WCHA. Retrieved June 1, 2014.