| Season Notes |
| During the League's first three years teams were divided into Division I and Division II. This year the divisions merge. Division II teams, Ames and Mason City, are granted Varsity status and Des Moines Lincoln-East is disbanded with players being absorbed by the other Des Moines teams. The League now has ten teams. |
| Mason City, playing on outdoor ice, schedules home games at the Riverside Arena in Austin, Minnesota. |
| To honor retiring Commissioner Alan Murdoch, the Board of Directors passes a resolution that the award presented to the Varsity Tournament Most Valuable Player be named the Alan Murdoch Appreciation Trophy. Murdoch served a three-year term as the League's first commissioner.. |
| The Board of Directors also announces that the Regular-Season Championship trophy will be named after W. David Tyler, who served as secretary for the first two years of the Leauge and President his third year of service. |
| Ames opens the new Cyclone Area Community Center in 1979. |
| Waterloo Warriors wins its first tournament championship. |
VARSITY REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPION
Waterloo Columbus Sailors (15W-3L-0T)
VARSITY TOURNAMENT CHAMPION
March 6-9, 1980 - McElroy Auditorium - Waterloo, Iowa
Championship Game: Waterloo Warriors 9, Urbandale J-Hawks 3
VARSITY TOURNAMENT MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Steve Kammeyer - Waterloo Warriors
| Varsity Regular Season Standings - FINAL | |||||
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
| Waterloo Columbus | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 30 |
| Waterloo Warriors | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 30 |
| Des Moines Valley | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 28 |
| Urbandale | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 26 |
| Ankeny | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 24 |
| Sioux City | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 14 |
| Des Moines Dowling | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt | 18 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 8 |
| Mason City | 18 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 6 |
| Ames | 18 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 2 |
| Varsity Top-Ten Scorers | |||||
| RK | Name, Team | Go | Ast | Pts | PM |
| 1 | Mike Messerer, Waterloo Warriors | 28 | 29 | 57 | 12 |
| T2 | Scott Dolan, Waterloo Columbus | 21 | 32 | 53 | 6 |
| T2 | Mike Lamb, Waterloo Warriors | 27 | 26 | 53 | 30 |
| 4 | Ted Wiles, Ankeny | 29 | 21 | 49 | 74 |
| T5 | Steve Kammeyer, Waterloo Warriors | 14 | 33 | 47 | 18 |
| T5 | Steve Miller, Des Moines Valley | 26 | 21 | 47 | 24 |
| 7 | John Davis, Waterloo Columbus | 21 | 22 | 43 | 28 |
| 8 | Todd Jacoby, Waterloo Warriors | 16 | 25 | 41 | 20 |
| 9 | Doran Doty, Ankeny | 27 | 12 | 39 | 56 |
| 10 | Steve Hammer, Urbandale | 17 | 21 | 38 | 12 |
At this time no goaltender statistics are available in the official League records for the 1979-80 season. A search is being conducted. If anyone has information that would aid in the search contact Roger Kelly at rogerkelly0809@outlook.com
| Varsity Silver Glove Goaltenders | |||||||||
| Last, First - Team | GP | W | L | T | SOG | Svs | GA | Pct | SO |
VARSITY ALL-STATE
- First Team -
- Forwards -
Brent Hartman, Jr. - Sioux City
Jeff Lamb, So. - Waterloo Columbus
Mike Lamb, Sr. - Waterloo Warriors
- Defense -
Mike Hoshaw, Sr. - Des Moines Valley
Mark Lanigan, Fr. - Waterloo Columbus
- Goaltenders -
Kevin Thompson, Jr. - Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt
- Second Team -
- Forwards -
Steve Miller, Fr. - Des Moines Valley
Scott Dolan, Fr. - Waterloo Columbus
Mike Messerer, Jr. - Waterloo Warriors
- Defense -
Jeff Cross, Sr. - Urbandale
Todd Jacoby, Sr. - Waterloo Warriors
- Goaltenders -
Frank Cataldo, Jr. - Des Monines Dowling
- Third Team -
- Forwards -
Scott Cross, So. - Urbandale
Steve Hammer, So. - Urbandale
Steve Kammeyer, Sr. - Waterloo Warriors
- Defense -
Scott Lyness, Sr. - Urbandale
Greg White, So. - Waterloo Warriors
- Goaltenders -
Mitch VeDane, So. - Des Moines Valley
- Honorable Mention -
- Forwards -
Bill Robyt, Sr. - Ames
John Leopold, Jr. - Ankeny
Jay Strako, So. - Des Moines Dowling
B.J. Giudicessi, So. - Des Moines Dowling
Paul Doyle, So. - Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt
Mike Moulton, So. - Des Moines Valley
Jim Nielson, Jr. - Mason City
John Brandt, So. - Mason City
Paul Kambach, Sr. - Sioux City
Clayton Wiffen, Jr. - Sioux City
Craig Mann, So. - Urbandale
John Davis, Sr. - Waterloo Columbus
Bryan Trowbridge, So. - Waterloo Columbus
Tim Welsh, So. - Waterloo Warriors
- Defense -
Bill Futrell, Sr. - Ames
Scott Dewhurst, Jr. - Ankeny
Steve Wheeler, Fr. - Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt
Greg Miller, Jr. - Des Moines Valley
Dan Reynolds, Jr. - Sioux City
Bob Hansen, Jr. - Urbandale
Dennis Hansen, So. - Waterloo Columbus
Doug Dietz, Fr. - Waterloo Warriors
- Goaltenders -
Kurt Anderson, Sr. - Ankeny
Mike Bennett, Sr. - Sioux City
Tim Horan, Sr. - Waterloo Warriors
IOWA HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY LEAGUE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
President: Roger Peterson - Waterloo
Secretary: Ross Brown - Cedar Falls
Treasurer: John Robyt - Ames
Vice President: Robert Bennett - Sioux City
Commissioner: Fred Yoder - West Des Moines
Scheduler:
Stewart Davis - Waterloo
Statistician: Douglas Johnson - Waterloo