PITTSBURGH -- Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Lange, whose imaginative goal calls made his raspy voice immediately recognizable to Penguins fans for decades, has died. He was 76.

The team confirmed Lange's death Wednesday. No cause was given.

"Mike was a wordsmith -- a magician behind the mic," the Penguins said in a statement, later adding, "Only Mike could make the biggest names in hockey seem more magical with just his voice."

Phil Bourque, a former Penguin who spent years alongside Lange in the team's radio booth, called his former partner "one of the kindest, most loyal and loving humans I've ever met."

Lange spent nearly five decades chronicling the franchise's rise from also-ran to Stanley Cup champion five times over, his unique delivery and quirky sayings serving as the soundtrack for iconic moments from Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux and longtime running mate Jaromir Jagr to current stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Lange in 2001 when he received the Foster Hewitt Award for broadcast excellence.

From "It's a hockey night in Pittsburgh" to "Elvis has left the building" to "he beat him like a rented mule," Lange's distinctive turns of phrase made his voice instantly recognizable.

When Pittsburgh defeated Chicago to win a second straight Stanley Cup in 1992, Lange punctuated the title on the team's radio network by telling listeners "Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley, get me the brandy."

Born in Sacramento, California, on March 3, 1948, Lange called games in the Western Hockey League before doing a one-year stint with the Penguins in 1974. He left while the team experienced financial difficulties before returning to Pittsburgh for good in 1976. He didn't miss a single game for the next 30 years, serving as the club's lead broadcaster on its television and radio networks as Pittsburgh became one of the NHL's marquee clubs.

It wasn't uncommon for Lange's calls to be mimicked by sportscasters everywhere, with former ESPN anchor Keith Olbermann putting his own twist on a Lange classic by using the line "he beat him like a rented goalie" occasionally during NHL highlight packages. Lange even appeared as a broadcaster -- and trotted out some of his singular sayings -- in the Pittsburgh-set Jean-Claude Van Damme action movie "Sudden Death." The fictional 1995 film was set against the backdrop of a Stanley Cup matchup between the Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks.

Lange moved to the radio side full-time in 2006, calling the team's Stanley Cup wins in 2009, 2016 and 2017 before retiring in August 2021 after 46 years with the Penguins. The team honored him in October that year, which Lange noted marked his 50th in broadcasting.

"I didn't get cheated in my quest to do what I have always loved," Lange said in a statement that coincided with his retirement.

Inter Miami CF head coach Javier Mascherano labeled the conditions as "inhumane" after the team triumphed 1-0 over Sporting Kansas City in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup first round at Children's Mercy Park in freezing temperatures.

"I'm very proud because I think it's impossible to play in these conditions," said Mascherano in the post-match press conference. "It is not human, you know, so I'm very proud because they gave me 100% with intensity, with a lot of attitude, so we are happy. We are in the halftime of the qualifiers, so now try to rest after a very difficult game for us."

Though Concacaf originally postponed the match by 24 hours due to the multiple winter storm warnings that forecasted between five to seven inches of snowfall across Kansas City, the two teams suffered through a frigid atmosphere on Wednesday night.

When the game kicked off at 7:00 pm CT, the temperatures in Kansas City hit five degrees Fahrenheit with a feels like of negative five degrees Fahrenheit. By halftime, the conditions deteriorated to three degrees Fahrenheit with a feels like of negative eight degrees Fahrenheit.

Despite the weather, Lionel Messi managed to score his first official goal of the year after connecting with longtime teammate Sergio Busquets and finished the play with a right-footed shot into the net.

"Fantastic [goal], I think maybe for the people that know him, it's normal because he did things like this or goals like this 1,000 times, but we are very lucky to have him in our team," said Mascherano.

Wednesday's result marks the first official triumph for new manager Mascherano, after he was appointed to the role last November to replace Gerardo 'Tata' Martino. Though Mascherano led the team to several victories during the preseason, the Concacaf Champions Cup match stands as his debut in an official match.

Sporting Kansas City must now score at least twice in the second leg of the series to advance to the next round in regulation time. SKC head coach Peter Vermes applauded his players for a job well done before revealing that there is only one player currently who can change the course of the game.

"I thought we played really well, we were very organized defensively. We didn't give anything away. There is one guy [Messi] that can turn the game over and he did," said Sporting KC head coach Peter Vermes.

"It's not just [what he does] to us, it's what he does to the whole world, anyone who plays against him. He can change the game himself, and there aren't many players you can say that about in the world's game and over generations."

Inter Miami will now host Sporting Kansas City at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Tuesday, Feb. 25 for the second leg of the first round series.

Inter Miami CF kicked off its 2025 campaign with a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City in the first leg of the first round of the Concacaf Champions Cup at Children's Mercy Park.

Though Concacaf postponed the game by 24 hours to Wednesday night because of the winter storm that brought heavy snow to Kansas City, players continued to face frigid conditions -- with temperatures hitting 3 degrees Fahrenheit with a "real feel" of minus 8 by halftime.

Still, Lionel Messi found a way to stun the opposing defense and provide fans with a moment of excitement in the second half. Longtime teammate Sergio Busquets provided a ball into the box for Messi to bring down before beating his defender and sending his shot into the opposite corner.

The rest of the match saw a back-and-forth game between the two sides, amounting to a total of 16 shots (seven from Sporting KC and nine by Miami).

Miami entered the match without Jordi Alba, who was serving a suspension for receiving a red card in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal clash against CF Monterrey. First-choice goalkeeper Drake Callender was also sidelined with an injury.

Despite the absences, the team picked up a crucial victory from the first leg and marked an important away goal that could prove to be the difference in the series.

Concacaf rules state that if aggregate goals are equal, the away goals rule is applied and counts as the first tiebreaker.

Kansas City would now need to score at least two goals at Chase Stadium in order to advance to the next round in regulation time when the teams meet in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the second leg on Feb. 25.

Elena Rybakina saved six match points before closing out a dramatic victory against Paula Badosa to reach the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, while world number one Aryna Sabalenka fell to a surprise defeat.

Kazakhstan's Rybakina fought back from 6-3 down in a second-set tie-break, while Badosa also spurned two match points on Rybakina's serve at 6-5 in the decider.

The world number seven held firm before securing a 4-6 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-2) win with her first match point after a gruelling two hours and 49 minutes.

The six match points saved is the most by a player en route to a WTA Tour win since Tatjana Maria's win over Emiliana Arango at Nottingham in June.

The 2022 Wimbledon champion will face Sophia Kenin after the American ended Jasmine Paolini's title defence with a 6-4 6-0 victory.

Italy's Paolini, a runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon last year, struggled in the second set after rolling her ankle and later withdrew from the doubles.

Their father, Richard, later accused fans of racial abuse. Serena returned to the tournament in 2015, while Venus played the following year.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, 34, has also been handed a wildcard after her announcement earlier this month that she would return to tennis following the birth of her first child in July.

On the men's side, Brazil's 18-year-old rising star Joao Fonseca, who won his first ATP Tour title at the Argentina Open on Sunday, was granted a wildcard along with American 19-year-old Learner Tien, who reached the fourth round of January's Australian Open.

British number one Jack Draper stormed into the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open with a dominant victory over Christopher O'Connell.

Draper did not face a single break point and needed just 59 minutes to wrap up a 6-2 6-1 win against the Australian.

The world number 16 is playing his first tournament since retiring injured from his fourth-round meeting with Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz at January's Australian Open.

He broke serve in the first game of the match and again at 4-2 before serving out the opener, while O'Connell won just one game in the second.

The 23-year-old will face Matteo Berrettini, who backed up Tuesday's straight-set win over Novak Djokovic with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 victory against Tallon Griekspoor.

Draper remains on course for a semi-final encounter with Alcaraz, who beat Italy's Luca Nardi 6-1 4-6 6-3 later on Wednesday.

Four-time major winner Alcaraz is now on a 12-match winning streak at ATP 500 events and will play Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic in the last eight.

Elsewhere in Doha, Alex de Minaur claimed his 200th tour-level hard-court win with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Botic van de Zandschulp to set up a quarter-final against fifth seed Andrey Rublev, who beat Nuno Borges 6-3 6-4.

World number six Daniil Medvedev defeated Zizou Bergs 6-2 6-1 and will face Felix Auger-Aliassime, after the Canadian was handed a walkover as Serbia's Hamad Medjedovic withdrew because of injury.

Wales against Ireland in the Six Nations has traditionally been a battle between red and green.

But on Saturday, Ireland will swap green for white as they look to secure the Triple Crown in Cardiff.

It comes after World Rugby introduced a directive to assist supporters who are affected by colour vision deficiency (CVD) by limiting the amount of kit clashes in the sport.

It can be difficult for those who have CVD, also known as colour blindness, to differentiate between colours, including red and green.

One in 12 men and one in 200 women worldwide are colour blind.

The last time Ireland wore a white jersey was against Tonga, who played in their home red shirt, at the 2023 World Cup in France.

Ireland have defeated England and Scotland in their opening two matches and can win the Triple Crown against Wales, who are winless in 14 matches and will be led by Matt Sherratt after Warren Gatland left his role as head coach.

Several members of Gatland's Grand Slam-winning squads are now pundits, and he says he felt disappointed by the criticism from some ex-players.

"You give that facade in terms of not showing everything or too much emotion," he said.

"I've felt a huge amount of negativity in the Welsh press and that just kept weighing down on me. I just kept thinking, 'where is someone in my corner or someone fighting a little bit for me?'.

"It's been tough. They (former players) are trying to find their feet in the game and sometimes you have to be seen to be objective. And by being objective, be critical. I look and can say that there's a number of them that wouldn't be in the media if they hadn't played for Wales, or hadn't played for the [British and Irish] Lions, or hadn't been successful."

Gatland said current players were also affected by the criticism, but believes his Wales exit will create "breathing space" to allow the squad and coaches a chance to rebuild.

Gatland added that he was surprised former assistant Rob Howley has not been retained by interim head coach Sherratt, while warning his permanent successor will need "thick skin".

He added: "There's a lot of people who want you to succeed, but there's also a lot of people who want you to fail as well. And I've experienced that."