It was the fashion faux pas seen across the league — a neon-yellow island in the midst of Calgary’s near-perfect sea of red.

But the two infamous sore thumbs who sat in the lower bowl of the Saddledome on Tuesday night, glowing like a beacon of bad taste, claim it was all an innocent misunderstanding.

“We never meant to make a big deal out of it — we always wear yellow to hockey games,” said 16-year-old Jared Scharff.

“I guess this time we really stood out.”

That would be the understatement of the series, after Jared and his dad Al Scharff found themselves surrounded by thousands of crimson Flames jerseys, as the puck dropped on Game Four of the playoff series against the Vancouver Canucks.

Television cameras instantly picked up on Al’s neon yellow T-shirt, made even more obnoxious against a background of solid red, and the two Edmontonians found themselves at the centre of social media speculation and wonder.

Were these Vancouver fans, using garish t-shirts to sabotage the beauty of an all-red Saddledome? Was Calgary the victim of a brilliant analogue troll job?

The fact Jared, a casual Canucks fan, was wearing a Vancouver hoodie over his own neon tee, certainly seemed to point that way.

But the teen, who also professes to like the Flames, says he really wasn’t trying to upset anyone.

“I was in Vancouver for a while and I started to go for them. My dad loves Alberta, so he is all Calgary,” said Jared.

Jared and Al Scharff in those now infamous neon yellow-y greenish shirts that stuck out like a pair of sore thumbs at game 4 in the Calgary Flames series with the Canucks on April 21, 2015. (Photo supplied)

So what’s with the jaundice-hued clothing?

Al explains the family has always worn matching bright yellow at public events because it’s easy to spot — it keeps the kids from getting lost, and it has the added bonus of being easy for friends and family to spot on live television from sporting events.

“This way they can see us easily from home,” said Al.

And so, it was tradition rather than an intent to troll that saw dad and son donning ‘Celebrate Canada’ shirts, obtained from a marathon last year in Edmonton.

And it wasn’t until they sat down in the ‘Dome that they fully realized the extent of their fashion faux pas — and what might have been acceptable at a regular season game was suddenly an affront to the entire Sea of Red.

“We didn’t realize how crazy it was until it became crazy,” laughed Al.

“We just put on the shirts and went to the game, because that’s just what we do — obviously, we stuck out.”

The buoyant mood of a Saddledome watching the home team trounce the Canucks certainly helped, but Calgary took the yellow intruders in stride, tweeting photos and generally having a good laugh.

Al says he wasn’t aware of the coast-to-coast commotion until the third period, when someone sitting nearby pointed out the all the mentions on social media, which already included a fake Twitter account, @guyinyellowyyc.

“I didn’t think I was standing out like a sore thumb until people beside us told us about it, but it wasn’t meant for that — it was just so family back home could see us,” said Al.

After Jared decided to take off his Canucks hoodie, the neon became even more obvious — and that when two Flames jerseys arrived, one from a total stranger, and the other from Calgary Flames, delivered by team mascot Harvey the Hound.

Jared was happy to wear his, but Al decided to stick by the family tradition — in part because many people were claiming his bad taste was good luck to the Flames.

“If Edmonton was in we’d root for Edmonton, but Calgary is the next best thing — if they think we’re a lucky charm, we’d be happy to come back,” said Al.

Jared says the neon yellow certainly seemed to brighten up the Flames.

“They played their best while we were there — just saying,” he said.

michael.platt@sunmedia.ca