Penguins historian Bob Grove remembers the legacy of Mike Lange, "Mike was always there."
Penguins fans and those who knew him are mourning the death of legendary play-by-play man Mike Lange and one of the people who knew him best is Penguins historian and former broadcaster Bob Grove.
If you ask Grove about Mike Lange, he will tell you many things but there's one, truly important thing he will tell you that's the most important of all.
"Absolutely fortunate, blessed to know Mike," he said.
Grove, or Grover as he's known to Penguins fans, was a part of the radio team for decades.
"We were so lucky to have Mario, Sid, Malkin, and Jagr, and who else would you want to describe what they were able to do than Mike Lange?" Grove asked.
Long before his catchphrases caught on with fans as the team became one of the best in the league, Lange kept people interested in a team that wasn't very interesting or even good.
"Coaches came and went, GMs came and went, players came and went, but Mike was always there," Grove said.
He also shared a story about how a young Mike Lange arrived in our fair city, he was received with some important advice from another local broadcasting legend.
"When Mike came to Pittsburgh, he met with Bob Prince," Grove recalled. "Bob told him, 'You have to get out in public.'"
With that advice, Lange listened and he did.
"I had people texting me last night saying he was in a bar when I was 21 and he bought me my first legal drink," Grove said. "That's a memory he'll never forget."
When he was away from the rink, Grove said that Lange dealt with the blues, and not the hockey team from St. Louis or sadness.
"If there was blues [music] played in Pittsburgh, he was absolutely there," he said.
Grove said Lange genuinely loved the city of Pittsburgh and his people, recalling that he would always say "he grew up in California, but he was meant to come to Pittsburgh."
He believes that Lange's legacy will live on forever, joining a pantheon of Pittsburgh sports broadcasters and that is because Lange is, was, and always will be the voice of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"He's absolutely the king," Grove said. "He's a historic figure in the story of the team."
