Brayden Schenn has season's first hearing with Brendan Shanahan

Brayden Schenn delivered a big hit on Devils forward Anton Volchenkov on Tuesday night. No penalty was called on the play, but that might not save Schenn from the wrath of Sheriff Brendan Shanahan.

By Brian Stubits

Jan 23, 2013 at 9:19 am ET • 1 min read

For the first time in the new NHL season, we have a hit to debate.

In the second period of the New Jersey Devils' 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, Brayden Schenn came off the bench and immediately delivered a big hit on Devils forward Anton Volchenkov. No penalty was called on the play, but that might not save Schenn from the wrath of Sheriff Brendan Shanahan.

According to TSN's Bob McKenzie and the Bergen Record's Tom Gulitti, Schenn has a hearing Wednesday afternoon with Shanahan.

Watch the replay and you can see why Shanahan would be interested. It's debateable whether Schenn left the ice before or after he made contact with Volchenkov. We know from dealing with Shanahan last year that he wants to make sure players keeps their skates on the ice when they deliver a check.

Ultimately, this one is probably more about warning Schenn to be careful than anything else and perhaps there will be a fine. Or Shanahan could surprise and drop a one- or two-game suspension on Schenn, but that would be a surprise. He did make high contact on the play and he did seem close to leaving his feet, but it's very hard to tell and in such a case Schenn might get the benefit of the doubt.

Now that we have discipline hearings to talk about, it really feels like the NHL is back.