Santorelli making habit of winning for Bruins

October 12, 2007

By Marc Weber
The Province

Mark Santorelli celebrates after scoring the winning goal vs Spokane  - Bob Frid Photo

The way Mark Santorelli ducks and dives through the depths of Prospera Centre sometimes, you'd swear he's preparing for a post-hockey career on the local dodge-ball circuit.

In fact, the Chilliwack Bruins' slick, savvy forward is very much focused on hockey, and that's why he's developed such an aversion to all things non-puck in his pre-game prep.

"He doesn't touch the ball, it's just weird," chuckles teammate Colby Kulhanek about Santorelli's disdain for soccer and football warm-ups outside the locker room. "For sure some of the guys will try to hit him with it and he'll just jump out of the way no matter how far he has to jump."

Santorelli's teammates aren't complaining, mind you. The 19-year-old winger's tied for first in the WHL with 15 points thanks to a season-opening, eight-game scoring streak. It's perhaps the biggest reason why the Bruins are at 6-2-0-0, leading the B.C. Division.

"I only want to touch the puck and not anything else," Santorelli says of his pre-game mindset. "Soccer ball, football, tennis ball. I just stay out of that. I'm kind of weird when it comes to games. I have a routine that I try to follow every day."

Why mess with what got you here?

Last season, Santorelli racked up 29 goals and 82 points and was selected in the fourth round of the NHL entry draft by the Nashville Predators. The Burnaby native worked hard to improve his skating and strength this summer, and his time at an NHL camp has brought his vision even more clearly into focus, according to Bruins coach Jim Hiller.

"He's preparing in his way, but it's with thought and with a plan," said Hiller, who sees a serious side to Santorelli's quirky behaviour. "He's a drafted player who really has a vision for himself. He knows where he wants to go and that's really apparent."

Not that he needed any added motivation to make it to the NHL, but when Nashville scooped up Santorelli at the draft, they re-opened the door to a rare opportunity he passed up just months before: the chance to play with his older brother, Mike.

Mike Santorelli, a sixth-round pick of the Preds in 2004 and current member of the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals, played three years as a forward at Northern Michigan University. Mark almost joined him there in 2006-07 but decided that Chilliwack offered him a better chance to develop.

The thing about siblings, though, is that you don't have to be near each other to lean on each other.

"We're just really close," Santorelli says. "I talk to him every few days and we use each other for support. We talk about how our games are going, 'How'd you play', this and that. Even on the road trips we text message. He's at that level and I want to get to that level, so I ask him a lot of questions."

Another of Santorelli's quirks: he's the only Bruins player who tapes his sticks while still wearing his suit.

At this rate, perhaps it's not a bad idea for him to always be dressed for success.