Malawsky brothers stick together

Curt, Derek share the spotlight on offense for the Knighthawks

DANESE KENON Curt Malawsky, left, is excited to be playing on the same line as his brother, Derek, for the K-hawks. Curt Malawsky Height: 6-feet-1. Weight: 175 pounds. Age: 31. Noteworthy: Joined Knighthawks in 1998 as first-round selection in Western Canadian portion of NLL draft... . Ranks fourth all-time in goals with 102 and is tied for fourth in points with 223... . Led NLL in game-winning goals last year with 6... . Last summer his Coquitlam (British Columbia) team won the prestigious Mann Cup championship in Canada and he was named Western Lacrosse Association Player of the Year... . Has scored more than 400 goals and 900 points during his WLA career. Derek Malawsky Height: 6-feet. Weight: 175 pounds. Age: 28. Noteworthy: Joined the Knighthawks following 2001 season in trade with Buffalo... . In two years with the Bandits he scored 51 goals and 131 points while scooping 190 loose balls... . In 2001 for Buffalo he tied the NLL record for most points in a game with 14 against Philadelphia... . Earlier this year he set an all-time NLL record for assists in a game with 11, and his 13 points that night against Buffalo was a Rochester record... . In the WLA, he was the league's leading scorer in 2000.

By Sal Maiorana
Democrat and Chronicle

(Thursday, January 31, 2002) -- The idea was to protect the family cars from the persistent winter rains in Coquitlam, British Col-umbia.

Instead, the two-car garage that Curt and Derek Malawsky's stepfather built became the boys' personal lacrosse arena.

"We put our lacrosse nets in there and I don't think a car ever saw the garage," said Curt, by three years the elder of Sue Malawsky's two sons. "We put a lot of holes in the walls, broke a few windows along the way, but we had a good time."

Mother Malawsky remembers it exactly the same way.

"We were building it in stages, but the boys just kind of took it over," she said. "It was unbelievable because lacrosse was their whole life. But I didn't mind it because they were young, I was a single parent at the time, and I knew what they were doing and where they were."

Those endless hours spent in the garage and at the local recreation center in Coquitlam -- a small town situated just to the east of Vancouver -- have paid off handsomely for the Malawsky boys.

Today they are two of the most talented players in the National Lacrosse League, and thanks to an off-season trade with Buffalo that brought Derek down the Thruway to Rochester, they are reliving their youth as members of the Rochester Knighthawks.

"I was pretty happy, shocked at first," Derek said of the blockbuster transaction that saw Malawsky, Shawn Williams and D'Arcy Sweet come to Rochester in exchange for Steve Dietrich, Casey Powell, Pat McCready and Rusty Kruger.

"But once it sunk in and I saw what team I was going to, that would be my first choice, to come to Rochester and play with my brother."

Because of their age difference the Malawskys (Curt is 31, Derek 28) were almost never on the same team growing up. When Derek was old enough to play senior level in Canada's Western Lacrosse Association he and Curt played together for two years with New Westmin-ster and one for North Shore, but that's been it.

As for the NLL, while Curt has played four years for Rochester, Derek has split time between Ontario and Buffalo before their reunion this season.

"To have him come on the team was just amazing," Curt said. "I hate playing against my brother. I don't have too many years left and to have him here with me is an unbelievable feeling."

During Knighthawks practices the Malawskys don't act like sibling rivals. There isn't much horsing around, none of the "Anything you can do, I can do better" banter.

"They don't get into it very much, it's not their nature," said Knighthawks captain Duane Jacobs, who plays on the same line with Curt and Derek.

That wasn't the case back in the garage in Coquitlam.

"They were always fighting," Sue Malawsky said. "They were so competitive ever since they were little. I think Curt usually got the better of Derek because he was three years older."

The boys concurred on that point, but when Derek caught up to his brother physically, then the one-on-one battles really became intense.

"It was funny, for the first five or six years I'd win no problem, but then he started to beat me and I wouldn't let him leave until I beat him," Curt said with a fond laugh.

"He'd win and run away and I'd have to chase him down and beat him a bit. We couldn't quit until I won, but the older he got the harder it got."

Derek, who set an NLL record by registering 11 assists in a game against his former Buffalo teammates on Jan. 5, chuckles when he reflects on those days.

"I'd want to leave and he kept me there until it got dark," he said. "My mom was always yelling at us to take it easy. But that makes you a stronger person. It was great times, great memories."

There is no question this is the finest Knighthawks team ever, and the scoring prowess of the Malawsky brothers is a major component to Rochester's success.

Derek ranks second on the team behind John Grant Jr. in points with 52 (16 goals, 36 assists) while Curt is second behind Grant in goals with 22 and fourth on the team with 38 points.

"With all due respect to my previous linemates, Randy (Mearns) and Rusty (Kruger), Derek's the best player I've played alongside on the left side since I've been here," Jacobs said. "He's a great feeder, a great team guy. To have both of them on our line is great because they're exceptional players and they just want to win."

Coach Paul Day considered putting the Malawskys on separate lines at the start of the year, but they talked him out of it, and he's happy he listened.

"They're a perfect complement to each other," Day said. "Derek's like a point guard in basketball, he can shoot it if he has to, but he loves to pass it. And Curt is the type of guy who doesn't want the ball, he gets open off ball. It's worked out pretty good."

That's no surprise to the Malawskys.

"We know something special is there and we wanted to let the coach know and he gave us a shot," Derek said. "Things have gone pretty well so far. Hopefully it pays off in a championship for us here."

as to protect the family cars from the persistent winter rains in Coquitlam, British Col-umbia.

Instead, the two-car garage that Curt and Derek Malawsky's stepfather built became the boys' personal lacrosse arena.

"We put our lacrosse nets in there and I don't think a car ever saw the garage," said Curt, by three years the elder of Sue Malawsky's two sons. "We put a lot of holes in the walls, broke a few windows along the way, but we had a good time."

Mother Malawsky remembers it exactly the same way.

"We were building it in stages, but the boys just kind of took it over," she said. "It was unbelievable because lacrosse was their whole life. But I didn't mind it because they were young, I was a single parent at the time, and I knew what they were doing and where they were."

Those endless hours spent in the garage and at the local recreation center in Coquitlam -- a small town situated just to the east of Vancouver -- have paid off handsomely for the Malawsky boys.

Today they are two of the most talented players in the National Lacrosse League, and thanks to an off-season trade with Buffalo that brought Derek down the Thruway to Rochester, they are reliving their youth as members of the Rochester Knighthawks.

"I was pretty happy, shocked at first," Derek said of the blockbuster transaction that saw Malawsky, Shawn Williams and D'Arcy Sweet come to Rochester in exchange for Steve Dietrich, Casey Powell, Pat McCready and Rusty Kruger.

"But once it sunk in and I saw what team I was going to, that would be my first choice, to come to Rochester and play with my brother."

Because of their age difference the Malawskys (Curt is 31, Derek 28) were almost never on the same team growing up. When Derek was old enough to play senior level in Canada's Western Lacrosse Association he and Curt played together for two years with New Westmin-ster and one for North Shore, but that's been it.

As for the NLL, while Curt has played four years for Rochester, Derek has split time between Ontario and Buffalo before their reunion this season.

"To have him come on the team was just amazing," Curt said. "I hate playing against my brother. I don't have too many years left and to have him here with me is an unbelievable feeling."

During Knighthawks practices the Malawskys don't act like sibling rivals. There isn't much horsing around, none of the "Anything you can do, I can do better" banter.

"They don't get into it very much, it's not their nature," said Knighthawks captain Duane Jacobs, who plays on the same line with Curt and Derek.

That wasn't the case back in the garage in Coquitlam.

"They were always fighting," Sue Malawsky said. "They were so competitive ever since they were little. I think Curt usually got the better of Derek because he was three years older."

The boys concurred on that point, but when Derek caught up to his brother physically, then the one-on-one battles really became intense.

"It was funny, for the first five or six years I'd win no problem, but then he started to beat me and I wouldn't let him leave until I beat him," Curt said with a fond laugh.

"He'd win and run away and I'd have to chase him down and beat him a bit. We couldn't quit until I won, but the older he got the harder it got."

Derek, who set an NLL record by registering 11 assists in a game against his former Buffalo teammates on Jan. 5, chuckles when he reflects on those days.

"I'd want to leave and he kept me there until it got dark," he said. "My mom was always yelling at us to take it easy. But that makes you a stronger person. It was great times, great memories."

There is no question this is the finest Knighthawks team ever, and the scoring prowess of the Malawsky brothers is a major component to Rochester's success.

Derek ranks second on the team behind John Grant Jr. in points with 52 (16 goals, 36 assists) while Curt is second behind Grant in goals with 22 and fourth on the team with 38 points.

"With all due respect to my previous linemates, Randy (Mearns) and Rusty (Kruger), Derek's the best player I've played alongside on the left side since I've been here," Jacobs said. "He's a great feeder, a great team guy. To have both of them on our line is great because they're exceptional players and they just want to win."

Coach Paul Day considered putting the Malawskys on separate lines at the start of the year, but they talked him out of it, and he's happy he listened.

"They're a perfect complement to each other," Day said. "Derek's like a point guard in basketball, he can shoot it if he has to, but he loves to pass it. And Curt is the type of guy who doesn't want the ball, he gets open off ball. It's worked out pretty good."

That's no surprise to the Malawskys.

"We know something special is there and we wanted to let the coach know and he gave us a shot," Derek said. "Things have gone pretty well so far. Hopefully it pays off in a championship for us here."