Career
Savage was drafted in the first round, 13th overall, by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1988 National Hockey League Entry Draft. Despite his high draft status, Savage played just three National Hockey League games, which came during the 1990–1991 season with the Sabres. Savage played his junior hockey career with the Victoria Cougars of the Western Hockey League, compiling 143 points in 197 games.
Savage"s North American professional career included stints with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League (1989–1993) and Fort Wayne Komets (1992–1994), San Diego Gulls (1993–1994), and Kalamazoo Wings (1993–1994) of the International Hockey League.
Savage also played in 39 games with the Canadian National Team between 1994 and 1996. Savage played several seasons professionally in Europe before retiring following the 2003–2004 season.
In Europe, he played with Star Bulls Rosenheim, the Frankfurt Lions and Adler Mannheim of Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany, and The Human Context Lugano and EV Zug of Nationalliga A in Switzerland. In 2002, he became Swiss citizen through marriage.
Joel returned to live in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada where he is the President of Havaday Developments Incorporated. which is the developer of the Wildstone golf resort in Cranbrook in partnership with Gary Player.