Santorelli, who grew up in Burnaby and played for both Burnaby Minor Hockey Association and Burnaby Winter Club, was not a primo puck prospect. But that didn’t stop him from climbing the hockey ladder and eventually playing 406 regular season and four playoff games in the National Hockey League. His story is one of perseverance. Santorelli played two seasons in the BC Hockey League with Langley and Vernon.
His 67 goals and 148 points in two seasons caught the eye of scouts from Northern Michigan University, where he played three seasons scoring 61 goals and 110 points in 121 games. The Nashville Predators took notice of his play, drafting him in the sixth round of the 2004 NHL draft. After joining the Predators organization, Santorelli spent the best part of three seasons playing for the team’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, where he scored 74 goals and 171 points in 207 games.
Nashville called him up for two games in 2008-09 and another 25 the next season before he settled in as a regular. The Predators traded Santorelli to Florida in the summer of 2010 before he was claimed by the Winnipeg Jets in April 2013. That off-season, he became a free agent signing with his hometown Vancouver Canucks.
He played 49 games for the Canucks scoring 10 goals and 28 points while becoming a fan favourite of Canucks nation before being felled by injury. He then went on to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Nashville again and the Anaheim Ducks. Santorelli scored 64 goals and 138 points in his time in the NHL before finishing his professional playing career in 2016-17 with a six-game stint in Switzerland.
