Alex Galchenyuk Takes A Rocket To The Face In The KHL.

Former National Hockey League forward Alex Galchenyuk just earned a new level of respect from hockey fans around the world, but he choose a pretty painful way to do so.

The former NHL player is currently playing for HC Spartak in the Kontinental Hockey League and it was this week that Galchenyuk was involved in a rather unfortunate incident. Galchenyuk and Spartak were taking on SKA Saint Petersburg this week when Galchenyuk would be on the receiving end of a rocket to the face.

To make matters worse the shot would come from Galchenyuk's own teammate Joseph Keane who looked absolutely devastated once he realized what he had done. Keane, who clearly had no intention of hitting Galchenyuk, lined up for a big shot from the point and he got everything on it. Galchenyuk saw the puck coming towards his head and did manage to turn away just before the impact, but the puck still struck him square in the face.

Unbelievably Galchenyuk would bounce right back up and appeared to be relatively ok, something that was made all that much more impressive by the images of the aftermath. Despite being hit on the side of the face, Galchenyuk's eye is nearly swollen shut. He's probably going to be feeling this one for quite some time.

You can see the image of the aftermath and the video of the incident just below: