In its 7th year under head coach Herb Brooks the team compiled a 32–11–1 record and reached the NCAA tournament for the eighth time.

Steve Janaszak, one of the four remaining players from Minnesota's last national championship team, received the lion's share of minutes in goal as the Gophers built an early lead in both the WCHA and Big Ten.

The Gophers played host to three ECAC Hockey teams during the winter break and though Harvard gave them a good game, Minnesota swept both weekend to build their record to 15–4.

With their conference record dented, Minnesota returned to the Williams Arena and hosted two weak teams over two weeks, easily winning four games, before ending up in Notre Dame where they lost two close affairs.

After breezing through the first round against Michigan Tech, Minnesota hosted Minnesota–Duluth, one of only two team to have a winning record against the Golden Gophers in the regular season.

While the Gophers earned one of the two WCHA bids, the other went to North Dakota and because the Fighting Sioux had finished the regular season with a better conference record, Minnesota was slotted into the second western seed.

In the semifinals Minnesota met New Hampshire, the top offence team in the east, and the two battled a close contest for 60 minutes with the Gophers ending up as the victors.

Head Coach Herb Brooks would leave Minnesota that summer when he signed on to serve as the bench boss for the US National Team at the 1980 Winter Olympics.