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.
“He’s probably the most popular voice in Pittsburgh,” Malkin said. “He (said), ‘Malkin, make me a milkshake!’ It’s a great (phrase) for me.
“It’s a tough loss.”
Lange died Wednesday at the age of 76. He retired from his position as the team’s iconic play-by-play broadcaster in 2021 and had not been around the team all that much in recent years.
As such, only a handful of members of the current roster had a direct relationship with him.
But even with the gulf of three-plus seasons since Lange artfully detailed a goal during a game or intricately chatted up a defenseman on a breakout drill following practice, his presence remains with those who interacted with him.
“That voice will always kind of resonate with the Pittsburgh Penguins and all the players, like Mario, Jagr, Sid, Geno (Malkin),” defenseman Kris Letang said. “I was lucky myself to have my name called by him. He made it unique and fun and enjoyable to listen.”
Of the current roster, only Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Bryan Rust remain from Lange’s final season in the booth.
Rust, 32, is the youngest of that quartet. A third-round draft pick (No. 80 overall) in 2010, Rust first encountered Lange during offseason gatherings for prospects.
“Being around development camps, I think I got an idea of how much he meant to the city, this organization, and everybody who is involved, top to bottom,” Rust said. “He talked to everybody. It didn’t matter if you were a new guy, if you were a janitor in the room, if you were a media person, if you were the head coach, or if you were Sid. It didn’t matter. He genuinely had conversations with you, and when he talked to you, he listened and he cared. Then you saw his enthusiasm every time he talked about hockey and every time he talked about the city.”
Given his 46 years in the booth, Lange’s knowledge of the game was granular. That allowed him to have substantive discussions with coaches or players about the sport. And with that, a distinct measure of camaraderie.
“He worked at it,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “That’s why I had so much respect for him. He was at every morning skate. He would have personal conversations with players, coaches. He had a pretty good pulse on what was going on around the team at any particular time. Some of the ebbs and flows, the adversities that teams go through. He had a pretty good handle on it. That doesn’t happen by accident. You’ve got to put your time in. Mike was a guy that was willing to do that. He’d roll up his sleeves. He put the time in to be around the team and do all the background work so that when the cameras went on or they turned that microphone on, he was prepared.
“When someone works at the game the way he does, in a lot of ways, you become a student of the game. He did it for a long time. Because he became a student of the game, he gained a better understanding of how the game is being played. Because of that, it gave him an opportunity to maybe engage in conversations that weren’t just stating the obvious, that maybe dug into the subtleties of the game.”
Prior to Saturday’s home contest against the rival Washington Capitals, the Penguins have scheduled a pregame function recognizing Lange at 3 p.m. (the game is slated to open shortly after 3:30 p.m.)
Those on the ice who knew the man have a firm grasp on the significance of who they’ll be honoring.
“Every time you hear replays of big memories, like Stanley Cup wins or big goals by Mario or stuff like that, that’s his voice,” Letang said. “So, it means a lot for the city and for all of the players that are in this dressing room.”