Alex DeBrincat’s 46th goal of the season brings the fans at Erie Insurance Arena to their feet and the team’s mascot, an otter named Shooter who wears light-up plush skates and a blue helmet, jumps up and down and pumps his fists. The crowd started cheering seconds ago in anticipation, when DeBrincat and Taylor Raddysh—two-thirds of one of the most potent lines in junior hockey—entered the Windsor Spitfires’ zone on a two-on-one rush. Raddysh saucered a pass over the stick of the Spitfires defender, and DeBrincat, primed for the one-timer, hammered it home. Not bad for a kid who says he doesn’t always aim when he shoots.

DeBrincat, who had to extend himself forward to get a good hold of the pass, tripped after getting the shot off and crashed into the end boards. Shooter, meanwhile, kept pumping his hockey glove-covered firsts. DeBrincat celebrates the 148th goal and 302nd point of his Ontario Hockey League career horizontally. It’s 1-0, Otters. They hang on for the W, 5-4, in overtime.

A day after the win, Erie’s 10th straight, the 19-year-old sits in the front row of the now quiet arena, where the lights haven’t yet been turned on for the afternoon’s off-day practice. It’s funny to hear a player on the cusp of OHL scoring history acknowledge that he has “a lot of critics,” but DeBrincat is a unique case. Now just three goals away from a third-straight 50-goal, 100-point season—a feat accomplished only once before, 40 years ago—DeBrincat still faces doubts about his talent. Some knock him for his height—five-foot-seven—others, for inflated numbers thanks to playing alongside elite linemates like Connor McDavid. But the kid Chicago selected at No. 39 in last year’s NHL Draft is used to being over-criticized and underrated. He may never quiet his doubters, but one thing is for sure: We have never seen a career quite like DeBrincat’s. And the biggest test is still ahead.