Lange is the voice of record for five Stanley Cup championships — 1991, 1992, 2009, 2016, 2017.
But there wasn’t much to celebrate in the first two decades after the Penguins were founded in 1967. That changed on May 25, 1991, when they won 8-0 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Minnesota North Stars.
Lange wanted the Cup. And he wanted a little something to go with it:
“Oh, Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley! Bring me the brandy!”
At PPG Paints Arena, the Penguins’ home since 2010, there’s a media level on the seventh floor. Leaving one of the two elevators, you’re greeted by a mural of Lange, dotted with some of these everlasting sayings.
Since 2019, that’s been the Mike Lange media level.
To start each night game, he’d declare, “It’s a Hockey Night in Pittsburgh!”
That line lives. Just before puck drop, the Penguins have it read. Sometimes it’s a lucky fan. It’s been United States military veterans. Other Pittsburgh athletes have joined, including a recent visit from former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis.
No matter how many times it’s repeated, it’s Lange’s call all the same.
Then, when the Penguins won, Lange would announce, “Elvis has just left the building!”
A recording of that one still echoes through the arena after home wins.
In Pittsburgh, there is no replacement. Nobody could have said what Lange said as authentically as Lange said it.
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