Career
Santala started his pro career in Jokerit in the Finnish Master of Science-liiga in the 1998-1999 season. After a total of four seasons with HPK, Santala moved to the Thrashers" organisation for the 2003-2004 National Hockey League season. Santala divided his time between 50 games in the AHL Chicago Wolves and 33 National Hockey League games.
He spent the 2004-2005 National Hockey League lockout with the Wolves registering 40 assists and 48 points in 67 games.
After the lockout, Santala was assigned to Jokerit by the Thrashers. He played one year with Jokerit before Atlanta traded him to the Vancouver Canucks.
Santala played 30 games for the Canucks during the 2006-2007 season, but he suffered a knee injury on December 8, 2006 in a game versus the Carolina Hurricanes that forced him to miss the majority of the season. On September 5, 2007 he signed as a free agent with Jokerit.
After one season back with Jokerit, Santala opted to leave and sign with Swiss club, the Kloten Flyers from the 2008-2009 season.
Santala played for Team Finland in the 1999 World Junior Championship registering two points through six games. He represented Finland at the World Championships in, 2003, 2006, 2009, and 2010. Santala had a much larger role for Finland during the 2002 Karlja Cup.