It’s a sign that things are going well for the University of Maine men’s ice hockey team that the online grumbling about the team has nothing to do with how the Black Bears are playing.

Bananas the Bear, the longtime mascot of Black Bear sports, didn’t skate like a seasoned veteran when he was on the ice for pregame and the intermissions between periods during games Friday and Saturday. He was wobbly. He fell.

Some fans took to the University of Maine Hockey Fans Facebook group to express outrage that Bananas the Bear didn’t skate like Paul Kariya.

Bananas is handled by brothers of Alpha Delta fraternity, and has been for decades. I know, because I did the job. Not on skates, but if you went to a UMaine football or basketball game in the early 1990s and got your picture taken with Bananas, you might’ve had your picture taken with me.

I knew I couldn’t skate well enough to work a hockey game. So I applaud whoever took on the task this weekend. You have to be dedicated to the craft to take that chance in front of 5,000 people.

Will Barry, a student from Saco, is president of Alpha Delta. He knows the work Bananas puts in.

“It was a rough game,” Barry said. “The lack of vision, that’s what really bothers you.”

Alpha Delta’s usual skating Bananas was away this weekend for fall break, so his replacement took to the ice with about three weeks of skating under his belt. The show must go on, of course, and it was a noble effort, no matter what online trolls with nothing better to do say.

Some people find odd hills to die on. This is one of them. One poster wrote, “Enough is enough. It’s time to wrestle control of Bananas away from fraternity Alpha Delta. They are poor stewards of the brand and mascot.”

When asked by another fan if his post was sarcasm, the poster said absolutely not.

Because a Bananas that learned to skate three weeks ago struggled a little bit? Settle down.

We should all be so lucky that the problem that sends us to the keyboard full of righteous indignation is the skating ability of a goofy bear.

Before second Bananas filled in, the athletic department was notified, as was the rink staff, who helped ensure Bananas was kept safe on the ice. Out of the way of the Zamboni, basically, and Saturday night he was helped with that very thing. Friday night went off pretty well, Barry said. He noted Bananas felt exhilaration stepping on to the ice.

Saturday, though, he fell almost as soon as blade met ice, and it went downhill from there.

My friend Steve Van Dolman knew skating Bananas in the early 1990s. He and I went to Milwaukee for the Frozen Four in 1993, when the Black Bears won their first national championship. Steve knows the challenges Bananas faces when he laces up his skates.

Ideally, Bananas grew up playing hockey, so the skating is second nature, even with balance thrown off, zero peripheral vision, and big bear feet nearly twice the length of skates, making it next to impossible to make a crossover skating move.

“It really needs to be a hockey player because you’re used to skating with your head up and being aware of your surroundings,” Van Dolman said.

Yes, you want Bananas to skate well, but if your takeaway from a UMaine hockey game is anger because he didn’t, you need a heaping serving of perspective.

“Bananas is not there to outskate anyone,” Barry said. “His goal is to put a smile on fan’s faces. To make them laugh. To make them happy. I think he did a pretty good job of that.”

While some fans mocked, or demanded wholesale changes to the Bananas tradition, others took the moment for what it was, silly. Molly Slauenwhite posted a video of Bananas falling, but she added words of encouragement.

“Gosh — poor Bananas. He did seem like he was more comfortable the further into the game we got,” she wrote. “I’m sure he’ll continue to grow throughout the season.”

One thing Black Bear fans can take from this mini controversy is this: if you’re more concerned with the skating ability of Bananas the Bear than the skating ability of the Black Bears, you have a very good hockey team.