Nashville Predators defenceman Dan Hamhuis, left, tangles with Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery during NHL action earlier this season. (Bill Waugh/Associated Press)

That Sean Avery needs counselling is as clear as a pane of NHL Plexiglas to people inside and outside the game.

What's not as clear is what kind of counselling the Dallas Stars forward should be receiving.

Avery is in the middle of serving his six-game suspension for comments made a week ago. The NHL banned Avery after he used the term "sloppy seconds" when referring to the girlfriend of Calgary Flames defenceman Dion Phaneuf, Elisha Cuthbert. The Canadian actress once dated Avery.

Even after his suspension ends this weekend, Avery must continue undergoing anger management counselling as mandated by the league.

But experts in the field of behaviour counselling suggest Avery's words may indicate more about his attitude towards women rather his uncontrollable anger.

"I would agree with you that the remark 'sloppy seconds' in particular would leave Mr. Avery open to imputations of misogyny," says Owen Mahoney, a human rights investigator and consultant for HR Proactive, Inc., a Toronto-based company that works with large businesses and organizations.

But Mahoney says anger management is not necessarily the obvious course of action.

"It doesn't seem sufficiently focused on gender as an issue, although many men with anger issues need to confront attitudes they have toward women, who are often the target of violence," he adds.

"It is fair to ask whether some other remedy would be better tailored to the circumstances of this case, but in the absence of that, an anger management course may make Mr. Avery confront attitudes he may have toward women that need to be re-examined."

The NHL for its part is satisfied with its direction for Avery.

"I don't think 'sensitivity' is Sean's real problem," a senior league official said in an e-mail to CBC News. "In any event, he's being assessed for any and all potential personality or behavioural disorders. If sensitivity training is deemed necessary, he'll have to do it."

Determining whether someone should receive sensitivity training is largely based on the person's conduct says Mahoney.

"Often such conduct will be in contravention of human rights law, or collective agreements. Factors in deciding the appropriateness of training would include how often in the past such unacceptable behaviour has occurred, how previous incidents were dealt with, what needs to be done to make the workplace free of harassment," he says.

Avery has been embroiled in controversy for most of his seven NHL seasons, either because of his style on the ice or his actions off it, including alleged verbal run-ins with fans in two different NHL cities earlier this season.

If it was clear that Avery needed sensitivity training, those sessions would be in the form of a one-on-one discussion on a wide range of issues says Susan Jostman, a former regional manager with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

"The training could include a review of the specific situation and why the individual was required to participate, achieving fuller awareness and understanding of inappropriate behaviour/comments through examples, case law and studies, exercises and sometimes, video training," says Jostman.

"The session (s) would then move to behaviour modification and correction through additional exercises, discussion, the provision of information and techniques and ending with identification of any additional supports or assistance that the participant and/or trainer may identify."

As for whether any of this treatment will help the NHL's best-known pest, Owen Mahoney isn't optimistic.

"Mr. Avery's trail of past conduct does not speak well for his chances of staying out of trouble."