It’s a hockey night in Erie!

Mike Lange, the radio play-by-play announcer for the Pittsburgh Penguins, will discuss his hall of fame broadcast career at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, on Oct. 23. His talk, part of the college’s Speaker Series, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in McGarvey Commons, in the Reed Union Building; admission is free and open to the public.

Lange’s career with the Penguins began in 1974, when he signed on with KDKA radio. His raspy voice and peculiar catch phrases – “Scratch my back with a hacksaw!” and “Buy Sam a drink, and get his dog one, too!” – shouted over the goal buzzer, have endeared him to fans, who rank him alongside Bob Prince and Myron Cope in the pantheon of Pittsburgh sports broadcasters.

Lange moved to television in 1979. He called Pittsburgh Pirates games for the KBL Sports Network and worked for the Washington Diplomats soccer team. But he is best known as the voice of the Penguins, carried on the club’s flagship station, 105.9 FM “The X.”

In 2001, Lange won the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for excellence in broadcasting. That put him in the NHL’s Hockey Hall of Fame. His talk at Penn State Behrend is sponsored by the college’s Student Activity Fee, the Division of Student Affairs and the Harriet Behrend Ninow Memorial Lecture Series Fund. For additional information, contact the Office of Student Activities at 814-898-6171.