Mike Lange

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Mike Lange (born March 2, 1948 in Sacramento, California) 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 & Phoenix Roadrunners 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, never missing a broadcast. 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 marked the 31st year that Lange has announced Penguins hockey.

During the mid 1980s, Lange also broadcast several NHL games for ESPN.

Lange and then-colleague Steigerwald appeared together as themselves in the 1995 movie Sudden Death, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. In the film, Lange used many of his trademark expressions in his play-by-play commentary.

[edit] Expressions

Like fellow Pittsburgh sports announcers, the late 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. While some are familiar phrases from pop culture, most are cryptic expressions of Lange's making.

[edit] References

Preceded by Bob Miller

Foster Hewitt Memorial Award 2001

Succeeded by Gilles Tremblay