"Mike Lange was a wordsmith – a magician behind the mic. The Californian quickly became a quintessential Pittsburgher, and ...

"He was like the people's broadcaster, and I think that's what made him so special to people. They knew that connection was there," says Lange's longtime broadcast partner, Paul Steigerwald.

Jack Gibson, who grew up listening to Mike Lange and whose son, John, now plays in the NHL, talks about the first moment he got to hear the beloved Penguins broadcaster call a game involving his son.

Lange knew this, too, when he came east in 1974 to replace a man named Joe Starkey (no relation) as voice of the Penguins: Like Frank Sinatra, he was going to do it his way.