Hockey is a sport where violent, impulsive action is commonplace, although it usually doesn't involve a tongue-ectomy:

Craig MacTavish and the Edmonton Oilers couldn't stop the Calgary Flames. The best they could do was silence the opposing mascot.

Harvey the Hound, the Calgary Flames' 6-foot-6, 200-pound mascot, got too close to the Oilers' bench and under the skin of Coach MacTavish.

Already dealing with an impending 4-3 loss to the Flames on Monday night, MacTavish answered Harvey's repeated taunts with a yank that ripped out the white dog's foot-long red tongue.

...."(Harvey) was in a place he shouldn't have been," Flames spokesman Peter Hanlon said. [AP]

I wonder if the coach is aware that there is a person inside the suit doing the talking, and that by ripping the tongue out of the suit he left the person inside the suit still capable of speech, though doubtless more hesitant than before to exercise that power.