Evgeni Malkin did not necessarily have the most direct relationship with Mike Lange, at least not like other franchise pillars such as Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr or Sidney Crosby. But he is certainly aware of Lange’s seismic importance to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

When Mario Lemieux joined the Penguins as the franchise’s savior in 1984, there wasn’t an abundance of ways to watch the team’s games outside of the Pittsburgh area. After all, this was decades before the Internet made virtually every sporting contest on Earth viewable through streaming services.

I went to my first Pittsburgh Penguins game when I was 7. My late mother and I had season tickets for the best part of a decade beginning in 1971. It was all I wanted to watch. It’s the team I supported as a boy.

Before starting a radio or television broadcast, the late Mike Lange famously told his audience, “It’s a hockey night in Pittsburgh.” It was his first famous catchphrase in a Hockey Hall of Fame career full of unforgettable ones.

Mario Lemieux shared a heartfelt message after the death of longtime Penguins broadcaster Mike Lange. Lange died Wednesday at the age of 76.

I went to my first Pittsburgh Penguins game when I was 7. My late mother and I had season tickets for the best part of a decade beginning in 1971. It was all I wanted to watch. It’s the team I supported as a boy.

Lange spent nearly five decades chronicling the franchise's rise from also-ran to Stanley Cup champion five ... iconic moments from Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux and longtime running mate Jaromir ...

A sellout crowd of 21,105 at Bell Centre in Montreal were on hand for the opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off and witnessed another classic Sidney Crosby performance on the international stage, a thrilling multi-goal,

Play-by-play voice greeted fans to broadcasts with, "It's a Hockey Night in Pittsburgh!" among many familiar phrases

My favorite call wasn’t one I heard live, or even one with an iconic catchphrase. It was in 1992, before my earliest memory, against Chicago in Game 1 of the

Through his decades-long career, Lange became known for his goal calls, quirky catchphrases and colorful play-by-play announcing that, according to the team in a statement, "brought Penguins hockey to life.