Despite not having officially begun the search process, the rumor mill has so far produced several intriguing candidates for the position.

In pandering to Cleary's reputation for preferring men from the "Harvard hockey family," most of the names come from alumni including U.S. Women's National Team Head Coach Ben Smith '68, Yale Head Coach Tim Taylor '63, Union Head Coach Kevin Sneddon '92 and Pawloski.

Current assistant coach and B.U. alum Mark Bavis also is on the long list.

Moreover, Boston-area ABC affiliate WCVB broadcasted lasted Friday that Cleary would pursue Princeton head man Don "Toot" Cahoon. The station also claimed he was heading up to Cambridge this week for an interview.

Veneziano specifically denied that Harvard had contacted Cahoon.

"Our goal is to find the most qualified candidate," Veneziano said. "There are lots of criteria. Billy will not limit himself."

All the candidates on the list appear to fit the criteria, but the specifics have not been publicly disclosed.

With his Nagano gold medal around his neck, Smith would command instant respect. Ironically, he had his best season in the college ranks--heading Northeastern--the same year as Tomassoni had his best year.

Lake Superior State eliminated both the Crimson and the Huskies in overtime in the NCAA tournament.

The only knock against Smith is that Northeastern, like Harvard, underwent considerable decline as a program after its peak in 1993.

Smith's interest in the job remains uncertain.

"It's my old school so I'm interested," he said. "But I've got a wonderful job at USA Hockey."

Taylor would bring a sterling reputation as a coach who always motivates his teams to overachieve. Taylor demonstrated that in 1997-98 winning the ECAC without the most talent in the conference.

If the Harvard program has tailed off a bit recently, Cahoon has the track record in revitalization. A man known for his straight-forward style, he built Princeton into one of the top programs in the conference.

Still, it remains in doubt if either Taylor or Cahoon wants to come to Harvard. Neither of them returned the Crimson's phone calls.