Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Lange has passed away at the age of 76 (Twitter Link). Lange was beloved in Pittsburgh and around the hockey community for his magical calls and inventive catchphrases. He called all five of the Penguins Stanley Cup Championships and brought authenticity and humor to every broadcast he worked on. He was even featured in the 1995 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Sudden Death.
Lange was a native of Sacramento, California, which was not exactly a hotbed for hockey during his childhood. He went to school at Sacramento State University before getting his first job as a hockey broadcaster doing radio for the Phoenix Roadrunners of the Western Hockey League back in 1970. He made a stop in San Diego, doing play-by-play for the Gulls of the AHL before being hired by the Penguins as their radio play-by-play man in 1974. Lange was with the Penguins for all but one season (1976) up until 2021.
During his 46 years with the Penguins, Lange worked in both television and radio and made the most iconic calls in franchise history. He, along with Mario Lemieux, also inspired a generation of young kids in Pittsburgh to get into hockey, including Jesse Marshall of The Athletic, who tweeted about his admiration of Lange.
Lange became known for his one-liners, such as “He’s smiling like a butcher’s dog,” but his ability to anticipate what was going to happen in a game was truly unique. Marshall notes one such occurrence where Lange warned the audience to keep their eyes on Lemieux in a game and to “be careful” with him. Lemieux went on to score eight points in the game.
Lange was the recipient of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Foster Hewitt Award in 2001 and was inducted into the broadcasters’ wing of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Lange called his final Pittsburgh game in 2021 before his retirement due to health issues.
We at Pro Hockey Rumors send our condolences to Lange’s family, friends, and peers.
RIP to a legend. Many fond memories of Lange calling Pens games. Only appropriate to quote him (and Zappa) in his passing, “Elvis has just left the building”. Maybe now he can buy Sam a drink and get his dog one too
Elvis has just left the building. RIP Mike, you were the best.
Man you could just see him decline but didn’t want to see him that way. He is and always will be the voice that made hockey for me.
I don’t know whether to cry or wind my watch
I became a Penguins fan back in the mid 80’s because of his game calls. He brought you into the game like few play by play men do. He beat the competition like a rented mule. :)
Scratch my back with a hacksaw!
“He whipped him like a rented mule!”
Lange was one of the great ones! He was so fun, And entertaining.
I hate the Penguins, but Mike cracked me up. A true legend. RIP.
You hate the Penguins? Why would you hate a sports team? Seems like you need help.
Mike didn’t call a game; he told a story. You could practically see the game happen through the radio when he called it, he was that sublime with his words. People remember the catchphrases but he really knew his jockey like few others. And he gave credit to the opposition when it was warranted, he was far from a complete homer.
And to top it off, by all accounts I’ve ever read or heard he was an incredibly nice and gracious man.
RIP to a true legend
He was the best play by play man ever. Just ever.
I always thought the catchphrases made him seem gimmicky and people didn’t appreciate his true genius…painting a hockey game that you couldn’t see with words that made you feel like you were watching it.
His rhythm, timing and anticipation were amazing. His tone matched the pace and intensity perfectly.
I literally know people who bought radios with manual time delays built in so they could sync Mike Lange’s radio call with the TV feed. Taking in both, you could see how vividly he painted the game (without being bogged down with too much “X passes to Y back over to Z down to A” nuts and bolts).
Hockey poetry.
RIP.
I dont know if I would agree with best ever but I cant say youre wrong either.
Back in the earlier days of the NHL Center Ice package, at times there would only be away coverage for a game. There were so many I dreaded (looking at you Minnesota, aka the absolute worst pbp guy ever).
Lange was one that was a refreshing change from the homer echo chamber. He provided a different perspective and was about as entertaining as it gets.
If there is hockey in an afterlife, I hope he is signed to an eternal contract. RIP.
I have to tell a personal story of my interaction with Mike as a young kid at a penguins hockey game in the early 80s. Everybody went up the back stairs at the Civic Arena to ask for things from the broadcast area where Mike would go to have a smoke and as a kid, everybody was being handed out things like pucks and different things and I was the last kid there and there was nothing left so Mike said hold on went back and threw me down a program. I was really disappointed, went back to my seat and when I opened the program up to the team photo page, it was signed by all the Pittsburgh Penguin playersalways loved Mike and I’ll never forget that moment. God bless you, Mike .
Awesome story. Thanks for sharing.