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| 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 November of 1979. Ground broken for new community center PDF (Ames Daily Tribune - Tuesday, November 7, 1978 Cyclone Area Community Center Dedication PDF (Ames Daily Tribine - Monday, November 5, 1979) |
| The opening of the Dubuque Five Flags Center provided the city with an indoor ice surface, giving the local youth hockey program a home rink. The Dubuque Optimists high school club eventurall joined the Iowa High School Hockey League for the 1982–83 season. Dubuque Five Flags Center open PDF (Des Moines Register - Sunday, April 1, 1979) |
| Waterloo Public Warriors wins its first tournament championship. |
| USA’s 4–2 win over Finland on February 24, 1980 clinched the Olympic gold medal, completing one of the most remarkable runs in international hockey history. That victory came just two days after the legendary “Miracle on Ice” upset, when the United States stunned the heavily favored Soviet Union 4–3 in Lake Placid. |
| Waterloo’s intracity rivals, Columbus and Public, lived up to their advance billing when a record crowd of 3,144 packed McElroy Auditorium on Tuesday, February 19, 1980, to witness the showdown between the league’s top two teams. Columbus hockey victory drops Warriors from lead (Waterloo Courier - Wednesday, February 20, 1980) |
 Waterloo hosted the Varsity year-end tournament March 6-9 at McElroy Auditorium in Waterloo. All ten teams qualify for the event. The number 1 and number 2 teams in the regular-season standings were awarded a first-round bye.Plans underway for state prep hockey tourney at McElroy (Waterloo Courier - Sunday, February 17, 1980) |
VARSITY REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPION
Waterloo Columbus Sailors (15W-3L-0T)
VARSITY TOURNAMENT CHAMPION
March 6-9, 1980 - McElroy Auditorium - Waterloo, Iowa
Championship Game: Waterloo Public Warriors 9, Urbandale J-Hawks 3
Public turns other cheek, coasts to state hockey championship 9-3 PDF
(Waterloo Courier - Wednesday, March 10, 1980)
VARSITY TOURNAMENT MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Steve Kammeyer - Waterloo Public Warriors
VARSITY TOURNAMENT RESULTS |
|
| Bye | #1 Waterloo Columbus #2 Waterloo Public |
| Quarterfinals | #3 Des Moines Valley 8, #10 Ames 0 #4 Urbandale 6, #9 Mason City 4 #5 Ankeny 5, #8 Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt 0 #6 Sioux City 3, #7 Des Moines Dowling 0 |
| Consolation Games | Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt 12, Mason City 4 Des Moines Dowling 6, Ames 3 |
| Championship Qualifiers | Ankeny 5, Waterloo Columbus 4 Waterloo Public 10, Sioux City 1 |
| Chamionship Semifinals | Urbandale 7, Ankeny 4 Waterloo Public 6, Des Moines Valley 4 |
| Nineth-Place Game | Mason City 6, Ames 4 |
| Seventh-Place Game | Des Moines Dowling 6, Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt 5 |
| Fifth-Place Game | Waterloo Columbus 8, Sioux City 5 |
| Third-Place Game | Des Moines Valley 7, Ankeny 5 |
| Championship Game | Waterloo Public 9, Urbandale 3 |
| Varsity Regular Season Standings - FINAL | |||||
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts |
| 1-Waterloo Columbus | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 30 |
| 2-Waterloo Public | 18 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 30 |
| 3-Des Moines Valley | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 28 |
| 4-Urbandale | 18 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 26 |
| 5-Ankeny | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 24 |
| 6-Sioux City | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 14 |
| 7-Des Moines Dowling | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| 8-Des Moines Hoover-Roosevelt | 18 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 8 |
| 9-Mason City | 18 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 6 |
| 10-Ames | 18 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 2 |
| Varsity Top-Ten Scorers | |||||
| RK | Name, Team | Go | Ast | Pts | PM |
| 1 | Mike Messerer, Waterloo Public | 28 | 29 | 57 | 12 |
| T2 | Scott Dolan, Waterloo Columbus | 21 | 32 | 53 | 6 |
| T2 | Mike Lamb, Waterloo Public | 27 | 26 | 53 | 30 |
| 4 | Ted Wiles, Ankeny | 29 | 21 | 49 | 74 |
| T5 | Steve Kammeyer, Waterloo Public | 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 Public | 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 |
|
IOWA HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY LEAGUE 1979-1980 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
President: Roger Peterson - Waterloo, IA
Secretary: Ross Brown - Cedar Falls, IA
Treasurer: John Robyt - Ames, IA
Vice President: Robert Bennett - Sioux City, IA
Commissioner: Fred Yoder - West Des Moines, IA
Scheduler:
Stewart Davis - Waterloo, IA
Statistician: Douglas Johnson - Waterloo, IA