Penguins officials will meet with state and local leaders today in Philadelphia in what could be a pivotal moment in deciding whether the team stays here or moves elsewhere next season

Penguins co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle will meet with Gov. Ed Rendell, Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

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The stakes are so high that National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman, who has been serving as a go-between for the last three weeks, will sit in on the negotiations.

The fact that the meeting is being held in Mr. Rendell's hometown, known for its rough-and-tumble style, is not lost on team officials. Sources close to the Penguins warn privately that Mr. Rendell's style may not be ideally suited for this delicate stage of the talks and said a more collegial approach could hasten the conclusion of negotiations.

A day after vowing that political leaders may go to the NHL to block a move of the team, Mr. Rendell softened his tone yesterday, saying he was "still optimistic" the Penguins would remain in Pittsburgh.

"I think we're pretty close. And I'm looking forward to the next meeting as hopefully even wrapping it up," he told reporters in Harrisburg.

Today's hastily arranged make-or-break session comes four days after Mr. Lemieux and Mr. Burkle declared an impasse in talks over a new arena and said they would "aggressively explore" a possible relocation.

Since receiving the letter Monday declaring the impasse, Mr. Ravenstahl and Mr. Onorato also have been reaching out to the team. Mr. Onorato said yesterday it would be a "tragedy" if the Penguins left Pittsburgh given how close the two sides were.

He said his goal heading into today's meeting is to find out what led negotiations to break down, to resolve it and "to close the deal."

"I think this is the meeting to get it done," he said.

Even as state and local leaders prepare for a crucial face-off, Mr. Burkle and other team officials began exploring other options, meeting for about an hour yesterday with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman in his office.

"They had a very pleasant conversation," said Elena Owens, special assistant to the mayor.

Mr. Goodman, who has been actively seeking a professional sports team, would not give reporters any details of his talks.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Mr. Goodman was asked whether he thought Las Vegas was being used as a bargaining chip in the Pittsburgh negotiations. He replied, "I learned that lesson a long time ago. I will never allow the city to be used as leverage."

Team officials also talked yesterday with Tim Lewieke, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which will manage the $276 million Sprint Center in Kansas City, to be ready by next season. Officials there have offered a deal that includes no rent or construction costs and a split of the building revenues.

The Penguins also were looking to talk to officials in Houston about a possible relocation, but in a new development last night, Houston dropped its pursuit of the team for now, saying it could not compete with a new offer from Kansas City.

Michael Moore, chief of staff to Houston Mayor Bill White, said Kansas City had "sweetened substantially" an earlier offer to the Penguins that included free rent and half the building revenues at the new Sprint Center.

"We want an NHL team, but we're not going to give everything away," he said. "We're not going to get into this bidding war back and forth."

He said one factor is that Houston already has the NBA Rockets playing at the Toyota Center, while Kansas City is trying to fill an empty arena.

Today, all eyes will be on Philadelphia, where state and local leaders hope to salvage a deal they thought was close to being completed, only to learn otherwise from the team.

The Penguins have agreed to put up $4 million a year toward a new arena -- the same amount Mr. Rendell asked the team to chip in a year ago when he unveiled his Plan B funding formula. That includes $3.6 million a year in rent and $400,000 annually toward capital improvements.

Mr. Lemieux and Mr. Burkle said in their letter they can contribute no more. They also are putting up $500,000 a year for a parking garage.

Under Plan B, another $7.5 million a year would come from casino licensee Don Barden. The state also has pledged $7.5 million a year, up $500,000 since negotiations began, from a gambling-backed economic development fund.

One of the key economic issues still to be decided is how to account for an extra $20 million added as a contingency to a proposed arena bond issue, bringing the total borrowing to $290 million.

There's also a question of whether the money on the table will be enough. The Penguins believe the gambling and team contributions will cover the $290 million; the state believes there's still a gap.

For the team, however, the talks may be as much about tone as substance. The Penguins were upset that public officials pulled back on an initial offer that set their contribution at $2.8 million as well as a table-pounding outburst by Mr. Rendell Jan. 18.

Sources close to the team indicated the last straw came Friday when state officials refused to share interest rate information with them in the dispute over whether more money was needed in the financing plan.

At the same time, Penguins have been welcomed with open arms in Kansas City, where corporate leaders have pledged support in ticket sales and sponsorships.

Despite the ruffled feathers, Mr. Rendell said he is still hopeful an agreement can be reached. He said he told Mr. Bettman the same thing after getting the letter from the Penguins declaring an impasse.

"I said, 'Commissioner, notwithstanding this letter, I think we're making great progress and I actually think we are very close,' " he said.

Mr. Rendell said he sees no "financial advantage" for the Penguins in a move to Las Vegas, because, like Pittsburgh, it would have to build a new hockey arena from scratch. That differs from Kansas City, which is completing a new arena and wants a hockey team to fill it.

Mr. Rendell said that since the two sides started meeting two months ago, the Penguins have asked for about 14 changes from the original Plan B proposal. He said his "guess" is that public officials have "made 12 or 13 of the 14."

The Penguins also have raised concerns about the impact the losers' appeals of the Pittsburgh slots license award will have on funding, although Mr. Onorato and Mr. Ravenstahl did not see that as a major impediment.