{"id":3148,"date":"2026-07-11T06:34:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T06:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=3148"},"modified":"2026-07-11T06:34:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T06:34:00","slug":"watch-valley-man-still-lacing-up-for-ice-hockey-at-80-years-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=3148","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: Valley man still lacing up for ice hockey at 80 years old"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Most people approaching 80 years old are slowing down, but Valley resident Mike McConnell is lacing up his skates. <\/p>

Read more Celebration of life to be held for Arizona firefighter Nick Hutcherson killed in wildfire<\/a><\/p>

Just weeks before his 80th birthday, McConnell is still taking the ice every Thursday night at the Peoria rink, competing in a recreational hockey league where he’s often 20 to 30 years older than everyone else on the ice. <\/p>

And he’s not stopping there. <\/p>

Later this month, he’ll travel to California to compete in the prestigious Snoopy Hockey Tournament in Santa Rosa, skating against other players in the 70-and-over division for the second time. <\/p>

Read more Did taxpayers actually pay $300k for these orange trees?<\/a><\/p>

His wife says he’s become an inspiration not only to family and friends, but also to strangers who can’t believe his age when they see him flying across the ice. <\/p>

ABC15’s Cameron Polom learned about what keeps him motivated, how he stays healthy enough to keep playing, and why he’s not ready to hang up his skates anytime soon. Watch the full Uplifting Arizona story in the video player above.<\/i><\/b> <\/p>

Read more Weekend traffic advisory: closures on SR 51, Loop 101, Loop 202 (July 10-13)<\/a><\/p>

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Most people approaching 80 years old are slowing down, but Valley resident Mike McConnell is lacing up his skates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uplifting-arizona"],"yoast_head":"\nWATCH: Valley man still lacing up for ice hockey at 80 years old - Arizona Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=3148\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WATCH: Valley man still lacing up for ice hockey at 80 years old - Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Most people approaching 80 years old are slowing down, but Valley resident Mike McConnell is lacing up his skates.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=3148\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-11T06:34:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/c1ebdd1275e990c4f29e5124997624c0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=3148#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=3148\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"headline\":\"WATCH: Valley man still lacing up for ice hockey at 80 years old\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-11T06:34:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=3148\"},\"wordCount\":280,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=3148#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/c5da78ffc38b919d5aa06db96e730090.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Uplifting Arizona\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=3148#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=3148\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=3148\",\"name\":\"WATCH: Valley man still lacing up for ice hockey at 80 years old - 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