New York Rangers assistant coach Dan Muse, right, watches during the third period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, May 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker File)
Jun 4, 2025 2:30 PM
(AP File Photo)
(AP File Photo of Mike Sullivan Coaching the Penguins)
FILE – Pittsburgh Penguins long time broadcaster Mike Lange addresses the crowd before the unveiling of a statue depicting Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame center Mario Lemieux outside the NHL hockey team’s arena March 7, 2012, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Lange, whose imaginative goal calls made his raspy voice immediately recognizable to Pittsburgh Penguin fans for decades, has died. He was 76.
The team confirmed Lange’s death Wednesday. No cause was given.
“Mike was a wordsmith — a magician behind the mic,” the Penguins said in a statement, later adding “only Mike could make the biggest names in hockey seem more magical with just his voice.”
Phil Bourque, a former Penguin who spent years alongside Lange in the team’s radio booth, called his former partner “one of the kindest, most loyal and loving humans I’ve ever met.”
Lange spent nearly five decades chronicling the franchise’s rise from also-ran to Stanley Cup champion five times over, his unique delivery and quirky sayings serving as the soundtrack for iconic moments from Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux and longtime running mate Jaromir Jagr to current stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Lange in 2001 when he received the Foster Hewitt Award for broadcast excellence.
From “It’s a hockey night in Pittsburgh” to “Elvis has left the building” to “he beat him like a rented mule,” Lange’s distinctive turns of phrase made his voice instantly recognizable.
When Pittsburgh defeated Chicago to win a second straight Stanley Cup in 1992, Lange punctuated the title on the team’s radio network by telling listeners “Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley, get me the brandy.”
Born in Sacramento, California, on March 3, 1948, Lange called games in the Western Hockey League before doing a one-year stint with the Penguins in 1974. He left while the team experienced financial difficulties before returning to Pittsburgh for good in 1976. He didn’t miss a single game for the next 30 years, serving as the club’s lead broadcaster on its television and radio networks as Pittsburgh became one of the NHL’s marquee clubs.
It wasn’t uncommon for Lange’s calls to be mimicked by sportscasters everywhere, with former ESPN anchor Keith Olbermann putting his own twist on a Lange classic by using the line “he beat him like a rented goalie” occasionally during NHL highlight packages. Lange even appeared as a broadcaster — and trotted out some of his singular sayings — in the Pittsburgh-set Jean-Claude Van Damme action movie “Sudden Death.” The fictional 1995 film was set against the backdrop of a Stanley Cup matchup between the Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks.
Lange moved to the radio side full-time in 2006, calling the team’s Stanley Cup wins in 2009, 2016 and 2017 before retiring in August 2021 after 46 years with the Penguins. The team honored him in October that year, which Lange noted marked his 50th in broadcasting.
“I didn’t get cheated in my quest to do what I have always loved,” Lange said in a statement that coincided with his retirement.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
New Jersey Devils’ Timo Meier, left, and Jesper Bratt celebrate after Meier’s goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Pittsburgh Penguins center Cody Glass (19) and Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Jesse Puljujarvi (18) hug Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson, middle, after he scored the tying goal, during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Utah Hockey Club Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Egan)
A shot by Seattle Kraken’s Chandler Stephenson gets past Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry for a goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins ran out of patience waiting for two-time All-Star goaltender Tristan Jarry to emerge from a slump, placing him on waivers Wednesday ahead of a pivotal seven-game road trip that could determine the course of the rest of their season.
The 29-year-old Jarry is 8-7-4 with a 3.32 goals against average and a .886 save percentage this season for Pittsburgh, which is on the fringe of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference due in large part to subpar play in net.
The Penguins have allowed an NHL-high 173 goals, with neither Jarry nor Alex Nedeljkovic establishing themselves behind a defense prone to lapses.
The Penguins will call up promising rookie Joel Blomqvist to join Nedeljkovic on the road trip, which starts on Friday in Buffalo. Blomqvist went 3-5 with a 3.60 goals against average and a .904 save percentage during a stint in Pittsburgh earlier in the season.
It seems unlikely a team would be willing to claim Jarry and pick up his salary, meaning Jarry will be reassigned to the Penguins’ American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton once he clears waivers.
“At this point, (I) just feel it’s best in the long run for the team and for Tristan to allow Joel to come up here,” Pittsburgh general manager Kyle Dubas said Wednesday. “We think over the past year-and-a-half, with his play in Wilkes-Barre and when he’s been up here with us, he’s earned the right to have a go at it.”
The decision comes 18 months after Dubas signed Jarry to a five-year deal with an average annual value of $5.375 million. Jarry was an All-Star in 2020 and 2022 but has struggled most of the last two seasons.
“He’s continued to come in here, put the work in and that’s not been a question at all,” Dubas said. “That just hasn’t materialized the way we would like it to on the ice. At this level, you get to the point where you have to do what’s right … for him and for us.”
Jarry ceded the starting job to Nedeljkovic last spring. While he reclaimed his spot atop the depth chart coming out of training camp, he stumbled out of the gate and was sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for a lengthy conditioning stint.
While there was a brief uptick in his play after he returned, Jarry has lost five straight starts and continues to struggle early in games. He’s allowed a goal on an opponent’s first shot six times this season and allowed a shorthanded goal on Seattle’s second shot in a 4-2 defeat to the Kraken on Tuesday.
“When you lose, this is the kind of stuff that can happen,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said Wednesday. “A goaltender already has a ton of pressure, and it’s difficult for us because we feel like as a team we’re responsible if we don’t give our goalies enough help sometimes. I think that’s the tough part.”
Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan, who took his team to task for defensive letdowns in the third period against the Kraken that opened up the door for Seattle’s comeback, believes there’s a chance Jarry will make his way back at some point.
“I don’t think you make the All-Star team twice if you don’t have a certain level of talent and you’re not capable of making timely saves,” Sullivan said. “So, I know that Tristan has it. I believe to my core that he’s an NHL goaltender.”
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho (20) celebrates after a goal by teammate Jalen Chatfield (not shown) with Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (39) nearby during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Pittsburgh Penguins’ Bryan Rust (17) celebrates with Sidney Crosby (87) after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)