The 1961 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 1960–61 NCAA men's ice hockey season, the 14th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 16 and 18, 1961, and concluded with Denver defeating St. Lawrence 12-2. All games were played at the University of Denver Arena in Denver, Colorado. This was the first time in the history of the tournament that teams from the same conference would play each other in the opening round. The next occurrence would not happen until 2008.