Flames' mascot loses tongue

Harvey the Hound, the Calgary Flames' mascot, was wounded in the Battle of Alberta.

The six-foot-six, 200-pound white dog lost his foot-long red tongue at the hands of Edmonton Oilers coach Craig MacTavish.

With his team trailing by four goals early in the third period, MacTavish became annoyed with the antics of Harvey, who was pestering the Oilers' bench from behind the glass.

MacTavish reached up and grabbed mascot's tongue, ripping it clean out of his mouth. He then heaved the tongue back into the crowd while security scrambled to reprimand the cagey canine.

"I think it was one of those tear-away tongues otherwise he might have (fallen into the bench)," joked MacTavish. "When I got Harvey's tongue...that seemed to turn things around."

The move did in fact seem to motivate the Oilers, who were lifeless for a majority of the contest. After the incident, MacTavish's charges three goals in less than four minutes to narrow the deficit to one.

"I talked to (general manager Kevin Lowe) about it and right now we're going to be taking applications for our mascot for when Calgary comes in and he's going to have a good vantage point," MacTavish added.

"We're going to put a ladder up behind their glass and it should be an interesting night.

"I only hope we can get the 4-0 lead to back it up

Flames spokesman Peter Hanlon agreed "(Harvey) was in a place he shouldn't have been."

with files from Sports Network