Mike Lange

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Mike Lange is the radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2001, he received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his outstanding work as an NHL broadcaster.

A native of Sacramento, California, Lange joined the Penguins as a radio announcer in 1974 after spending time as a commentator for the San Diego Gulls of the Western Hockey League. He left the Penguins after just one season, because the team was in bankruptcy and he had no guarantee of a job. Lange called Washington Diplomats soccer games, then returned to the Penguins for the 1976-77 season, where he became the central figure of the team's broadcast presence.

From 1975 until 2006, Lange served as the lead play-by-play announcer for the Penguins' hockey radio and television network. On June 29, 2006, citing a desire to go in a new direction, Fox Sports Pittsburgh fired Lange. He was replaced by Paul Steigerwald, who had previously done the radio broadcasts. On taking Lange's spot Steigerwald said, "I'm not going to try to replace him. I think he's irreplaceable."^[1]

On August 4, 2006, Lange signed a one-year contract to work on Penguins' radio broadcasts. It will mark the 31st year that Lange has announced Penguins hockey.

Lange and then-colleague Steigerwald each made a brief appearance in the 1995 movie Sudden Death, starring Jean Claude Van Damme.

[edit] Expressions

Like fellow Pittsburgh sports announcers, Steelers announcer Myron Cope and the late Pirates announcer Bob Prince, Lange uses a repertoire of distinctive colorful expressions, sometimes called "Lange-isms" by his fans. A nearly complete listing is available here. While some are familiar phrases from pop culture, most are cryptic expressions of Lange's making. Among them are:

"It's a... HOCKEY NIGHT in Pittsburgh!"
"It's A Great Day for Hockey!" (said at the start of daytime games, based off a quote by former Penguins Coach "Badger" Bob Johnson)
"I'll be cow-kicked!"
"Oh no, Eddie Spaghetti!"
"Hallelujah Hollywood!"
"Heeeeeeeeeeeee shoots and scores!"
"It would take a miracle on Grant Street to come back from this deficit."
"Scratch my back with a hacksaw!"
"Well shave my face with a rusty razor!"
"Great balls of fire!"
"He was hit so hard his kids will be born dizzy"
"He's throwing out checks like it's the first of the month!"
"The turkey is on the table."
"Hop in the Cordova, baby... we're goin' bowlin'!"
"Donna needs a donut!"
"He left the defensemen on the parkway going to the airport!"
"Look out, Loretta!"
"Buy Sam a drink and get his dog one too!"
"He doesn't know whether to cry or wind his watch."
"Michael, Michael, Motorcycle!"
"He hasn't scored since the eighth-grade picnic."
"Never teach a pig to sing!"
"Get in the fast lane, Grandma, the bingo game's ready to roll!"
"She wants to sell my monkey!"
"He beat 'em like a red-headed stepchild."
"Call Arnold Slick from Turtle Creek!" (pronounced crick)
"He beat him like a rented mule!"
"He's all over 'em like a new pair of shoes."
"Big Ben strikes one." (said when a shot hit the goal post)
"Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has just left the building!" (generally said when an empty net goal is scored)
"Book 'em Dano!"
"He picked his pocket like he was walking down Fifth Avenue."
"If you missed this, shame on you for six weeks."
"And he's smilin' like a butcher's dog!"
"He takes the heat out of a hot kitchen" (generally used after the Penguins clear the puck while penalty-killing)
"How much fried chicken can you eat?"
"He gave 'em more moves than Mae West."
"You ain't nothin' but a hound dog!"
"Oh slap me silly, Sidney!"
"Get that dog off my lawn!"
"And the kitchen is closed!"
"He smoked him like a bad cigar!" (originally stated in Czech when Jaromir Jagr played for the Penguins)
"Go ahead, make my day!"
"You'd have to be here to believe it!"
"You can spit-shine your shoes, 'cause the Pens are going dancing with Lord Stanley!'"
"Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley, bring me the brandy!"
"Go for it, Mario; go for it."
"Rebound? There is no rebound!"
"I've seen that fish before!"
"Let's go hunt moose on a Harley"
"He would sit on a bald man's hat, he would!"
"Stop the press!"
"He went right down broadway, and then some!"
"Barasso says 'NO!'" ("Barrasso" often replaced by the name of another goaltender.)
"Can I get a witness?!"
"It's time to buy new shoes!"
"There's a 211 [robbery] in progress!"
"They threw everything at him but the kitchen sink!"