One typically hopes for the best and prepares for the worst. Hopefully Alex Galchenyuk was prepared.

The Sarnia Sting have announced today that Galchenyuk will undergo surgery this week to repair a torn ACL and will miss most of the 2011-12 season.

“Unfortunately injuries like this are a part of the game,” Sting general manager Jacques Beaulieu said in a release on the club’s website. “Our thoughts are solely with Alex at this time as this was very difficult news to receive. We will be providing Alex with the best care possible as he begins his rehab towards getting back on the ice.”

Galchenyuk, who suffered the injury in a September 16th preseason game against the Windsor Spitfires, is a highly ranked prospect for the 2012 National Hockey League Entry Draft in June.

The team does have hope the six-foot-one, 185-pound center will return before the end of the season. The average recovery time from an anterior cruciate ligament tear is approximately six months.