The latest issue of Forbes Magazine presents a very rosy picture of the postlockout NHL, focusing specifically on franchise values and 2005-06 revenues. But while it’s true that the league has done a fine job recovering from its yearlong work stoppage, there are also numerous signs that future labor peace is far from a foregone conclusion.

Attendance figures in 2005–06 were certainly quite impressive, but they likely spiked in part because of pent-up interest from hockey fans who had been without the NHL for a full year. This season, empty seats abound from Boston to St. Louis and from Los Angeles to Long Island, and while many of those seats are sold but simply unused, it’s a clear sign that the salary cap will probably not go up in 2006–07, and that it may in fact go down.

Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd, and empty seats don’t cheer, so the overall excitement level at an NHL game is significantly lower when thousands of seats remain vacant. In addition, those empty seats don’t purchase beer or other concessions, resulting in an aggregate economic hit that will almost certainly take a bite out of the NHLPA’s agreed-upon 54% of total league revenues.

For the players, that would be a very bitter pill to swallow, for they made tremendous concessions in agreeing to the current collective-bargaining agreement. Making matters worse, that agreement came only after former union head Bob Goodenow was pushed aside and current head Ted Saskin took over. Many players remain staunchly loyal to Goodenow and wonder how Saskin was allowed to take over.

The importance of Goodenow to the players cannot be understated, for when he took over in 1991 for convicted felon Alan Eagleson as union chief, he transformed the NHLPA from a “house union” into a powerful force. For all intents and purposes, it was Goodenow who put to an end the owners’ unchecked exploitation of the players.

In her recent book, “The Power of Two,” author Susan Foster tells the incredible story of Carl Brewer, a former All-Star defenseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings. Brewer and Foster spent the better part of two decades battling the hockey establishment over player pensions, a war that ultimately brought the powerful Eagleson down. For most of the NHL’s history, the owners treated the players with shocking disdain, a key reason why Goodenow’s leadership generated such fierce loyalty from the players.

It was during the 1969–70 season —Gordie Howe’s 24th season in the NHL — that he finally discovered how badly the Red Wings had been treating him financially. “Howe had been led to believe that he was the highest-paid player on the team, and every year, he simply signed the contract they put in front of him,”Foster writes.”It was (Bob) Baun who broke the news that he was making twice as much as Gordie’s $45,000 — but the real kicker was that Brewer was earning three times as much!”

That was a fairly normal occurrence in the pre-Goodenow NHL, and his ascension to power couldn’t come a moment too soon from the players’ perspective. With Goodenow in charge, player salaries rose astronomically, from an average of $276,000 in 1990–91 to approximately $1.8 million in 2003–04.

So needless to say, the controversial circumstances by which Goodenow was removed from power have become a huge bone of contention for a faction within the union, and that group — led by Chris Chelios— has filed a lawsuit against the NHLPA.

“The claims issued in the complaint are the same claims that have been made repeatedly over the last 13 months by this tiny group,” Saskin told the Canadian Press. “These claims, including the offensive allegations of illegal conduct, are completely without merit as has already been demonstrated in many forums on a number of occasions.”

However, Chelios’s representation of the lawsuit presents a very different picture indeed.

“Unfortunately, this lawsuit has become necessary after months of stonewalling by the union,” Chelios said in statement. “On behalf of more than 100 NHL players, we continue to seek full disclosure by the NHLPA of the events leading up to Bob Goodenow’s departure and the hijacking of a handful of other players.”

The dissidents charge that Saskin was “improperly elected, he misrepresented salary figures during negotiations, and he illegally diverted tens of millions of dollars in union funds for his own benefit.”

Dowbiggin, author of Money Players, a recently revised book about the NHLPA’s evolution, appeared on the Inside Hockey Radio Show on Saturday with Hall of Fame hockey writer Russ Conway and concluded that the NHLPA has taken a huge step backward.

“The NHL completely collapsed in the (CBA) negotiations,” Dowbiggin said.”They got nothing except maybe a little bit of a break in free agency. The union is back where it was 15 years ago. The war comes out of the peace, and this was not a peace that favored the players in any way, shape, or form.”

By crushing the union so severely, the NHL has effectively ensured that the only way the NHLPA can fully reassert itself is through another labor dispute. While the league certainly recovered nicely from last year’s lockout, it’s unlikely that the fans would tolerate yet another work stoppage.

“Obviously, there’s quite a group that isn’t happy with a number of things that went on,” Conway said. “The owners are already talking about eliminating arbitration, and they’d better be prepared to give something up. Rather than focusing on the past — you’re not going to rewrite the history — the players had better start looking ahead.”

To be certain, the NHL players are quite unlikely to suffer the indignities that took place during Brewer’s playing career. Even with the new CBA placing a drag on player salary escalation, the NHLPA members are currently enjoying unprecedented wealth.

The minimum NHL salary is $450,000, and it will rise to $525,000 if the current agreement is extended until 2011–12. And judging from the enormous contracts bestowed upon the likes of Zdeno Chara, Rick DiPietro, and Brad Richards last summer, the gravy train indeed keeps on rolling, at least for the time being.

But if the empty seats littering NHL arenas this season are any indication, revenue growth has slowed, and we may see revenues decline in the coming years. In order to stem that tide, the NHL and NHLPA must finally begin working together in earnest, to grow both the appeal of the game and the value of league sponsorships. For as long as television ratings for bowling and poker surpass those for hockey, the NHL’s status as a major sports league will remain tenuous.

There is little doubt — especially amongst those who have had the opportunity to watch young stars like Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin in person — that the NHL boasts an incredible talent pool. And the advent of HDTV gives the league an opportunity to reinvent its television product, taking advantage of enhanced clarity and an aspect ratio (16:9 versus 4:3) that lends itself much better to the presentation of ice hockey.

Until the NHLPA emerges from its current liminal state and once again presents a united front on behalf of its membership, it will be increasingly difficult for the league and players to work together to collectively improve their fiscal future.

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.