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Classic Saddledome Moments: The time Craig MacTavish ripped Harvey the Hound’s tongue out (January 20, 2003)

Photo credit: Sergei Belski / USA Today Sports

By Ryan Pike

Aug 15, 2026, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 10, 2026, 07:44 EDT

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As we enter the final season of hockey at the historic Saddledome, we thought we would spend some time celebrating the history of the iconic building. So, throughout August, we’re taking a look back at key games and key moments in Saddledome history. Next up: the Battle of Alberta gets a bit crazy, but zero players are involved in the incident.

The rivalry between the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers has featured a ton of wacky situations and crazy games. Heck, there was enough that Mark Spector wrote a book about the Battle of Alberta back in 2017 and he probably had enough left over to write a second one.

One of the wackiest moments in the rivalry’s history happened on Jan. 20, 2003. And players were not involved.

The 2002-03 season wasn’t a great one for either hockey club. The Oilers were wobbling around the final Western Conference playoff spot for much of the year, but their qualification for the Stanley Cup playoffs wasn’t guaranteed. Meanwhile, the Flames hadn’t made the playoffs since 1996 and were settling in with new head coach Darryl Sutter after giving Greg Gilbert the boot about a month earlier.

Even with the Flames well below Edmonton in the standings, a mid-January clash was important to them, as they were keen on (a) clawing back towards the playoff cut line and/or (b) taking enough points off Edmonton in their season series that their provincial rivals would miss the playoffs.

The Flames got out to a 4-0 lead in this meeting, with Craig Conroy and Dave Lowry scoring in the first period and Conroy and Chris Drury added more in the second period. By the early third period, the Flames were riding high, the crowd was rowdy, and Harvey the Hound wandered a little too close to the Oilers’ bench during a stoppage in play.

Here’s how the Canadian Press recapped the incident (via the CBC):

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.

The Oilers rallied back with goals from Brian Swanson, Marty Reasoner and Mike York, but lost 4-3.

In a funny coda to all of this, at the 2003 NHL All-Star Game a few weeks after the incident, Harvey was joined in solidarity by the league’s other mascots, who added oversized, dangling tongues to their usual get-ups.

Harvey the Hound, and his tongue, continues to be a fixture at Flames home games to this day.

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