NHL Owners, Players Reopen Contract Talks

MONTREAL — National Hockey League owners unconditionally withdrew their request for arbitration under the current collective bargaining agreement Tuesday, meeting the NHL Players Assn.’s condition for resuming contract talks.

NHL President John Ziegler said that the owners have asked the U.S. District Court of Minnesota to clarify what the rights of the players and owners will be after Sept. 15 if they have not reached an agreement.

The collective bargaining agreement expires on Sept. 15, 18 days before the start of the season. The players had threatened to consider a strike.

Ziegler said the decision to withdraw the arbitration request represented an expression by the owners to a “commitment to good-faith bargaining.”