PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The voice of hockey in Pittsburgh has passed away.
Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Lange died at his home Wednesday at age 76 as first reported by Athletic reporter Josh Yohe.
Lange moved from his native Sacramento, California to Pittsburgh to call Penguins games in 1974 and would for the next 46 years, some of that time on News Radio KDKA, which included five Stanley Cup championships. He was beloved for his creative catch phrases:
· ‘scratch my back with a hacksaw’
· ‘get in the fast lane grandma, the bingo game is ready to roll’
· ‘buy Sam a drink and get his dog one, too’
· ‘he beat him like a rented mule’
· ‘smiling like a butchers’ dog’
· ‘Michael, Michael, Motorcycle’
· ‘call Arnold Slick from Turtle Crick’
· ‘slap me silly, Sidney’
· ‘make me a milkshake Malkin’
· ‘It’s a Hockey Night in Pittsburgh’
His enthusiasm for the game and for his job made him larger than a voice into a microphone. Lange was as synonymous with Penguins hockey as the players. He would often record wedding announcements for locals as the first words they would hear at their receptions is Lange introducing them as husband and wife.
On a personal note, a friend of mind, who was a television photographer was dying from brain cancer. My friend was a Pittsburgh native, but had no tie to Lange. The Pens announcer was not only willing to meet him, but made him feel like a king. It was one of his fondest memories before passing away following the last Stanley Cup season.
I say this in sadness and respect to coin his catchphrase following a Penguins win.
‘A Pittsburgh legend has just left the building’.