The highly anticipated men's hockey head coach announcement will probably come next Wednesday, Assistant Director of Sports Media Relations Paul McNeeley said yesterday.

According to McNeeley, Director of Athletics William J. Cleary Jr. '56 has "two or three" people in mind.

Area media have speculated that St. Lawrence head coach Joseph A. Marsh is the frontrunner for the position, followed by Yale head coach Tim Taylor '63 and Mark Mazzoleni, head coach at Miami of Ohio.

Marsh, who graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1977, has a 258-195-26 record after 14 seasons with the Saints.

The delayed decision could place Harvard at a disadvantage since other schools will have head start on recruiting. The athletic department said filling other coaching vacancies has delayed the selection process.

However, while McNeeley acknowledged that the delay has "hurt a little bit," he did note that assistant hockey coach Jerry Pawloski '88 has headed up the recruiting concerns.

"We're not missing the game altogether," he said.

--Richard S. Lee