Mike Lange, iconic Penguins broadcaster, dead at 76
Legendary Penguins broadcaster Mike Lange died in his Pittsburgh home on Wednesday.
He was 76.
Lange spent 46 seasons as the voice of the Penguins, calling all five of the franchise’s Stanley Cup Final wins and being the soundtrack to some of hockey’s greatest players from Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr to Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Lange called his last Penguins game in 2021 before stepping away from the microphone due to health issues.
“Mike Lange was a wordsmith — a magician behind the mic,” the Penguins said in a statement. “The Californian quickly became a quintessential Pittsburgher, and his colorful calls and smooth cadence brought Penguins hockey to life.
The Hall of Famer’s voice is synonymous with the biggest calls in franchise history, including all five Stanley Cup Championships, and his unique one-liners and knack for anticipating game-changing plays set him apart from other announcers.
“Only Mike could make the biggest names in hockey seem even more magical with just his voice.”
Lange is best known for his unique catchphrases that have stuck with hockey fans for generations.
His most widely remembered sayings include: “Elvis has just left the building,” “It’s a hockey night in Pittsburgh,” “Get in the fast lane, grandma, the bingo game is ready to roll” and “He’s smiling like a butcher’s dog!”
Lange originally dreamed of being a baseball broadcaster but fell in love with hockey in 1969 while studying broadcasting at Sacramento State and began working the penalty box for the Sacramento Ice Hockey Association.
He started his broadcast career with the Western Hockey League’s Phoenix Roadrunners and eventually worked his way behind the mic for the Penguins in 1974.
honoring his time years as the Penguins broadcaster. NHLI via Getty Images
“I honestly believe and am a firm believer in the man upstairs,” Lange told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2021. “You’re going to end up where you are meant to be, and he’s going to be a big influence on that. I just think it’s by fate that I ended up here.”
Lange spent the majority of his broadcast career in Pittsburgh working alongside Paul Steigerwald.
He also called Eddie Olczyk and Bob Errey broadcast partners.
The popular announcer appeared as himself in the 1995 Jean-Claude Van Damme action thriller “Sudden Death.”
Lange was inducted into the broadcasters’ wing of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.
“Mike was so much more than a legendary broadcaster,” the Penguins’ statement added. “He was respected by the players and coaches and beloved by the fans. Because of him. Hockey Nights in Pittsburgh had the entire city ‘smilin’ like a butcher’s dog.’”
