Virtually unknown outside the hockey world, Patskou is an unsung hero in the sport.

“He’s a hockey nerd, and I say that as an absolute compliment,” said John Shannon, 60, former executive producer of “Hockey Night in Canada.” He used Patskou as a resource when building Leafs TV, which airs classic games.

“If you’re talking archival footage and the history of the game,” Shannon said, “Paul Patskou is in a small group of legendary folks in that world.”

In the early 1950s, hockey games were shot on 16-millimeter film and saved on kinescopes, essentially films shot off a TV screen. In the 1970s, Canadian television networks started using videotape, which could be recorded over to save space and money.

Part forensics analyst, part gumshoe detective, Patskou sees his role as not only preserving history, but also getting it right.

“I want to show how things really happened,” he said.

On May 2, at an event commemorating the Maple Leafs’ last Stanley Cup victory on that date in 1967, Patskou showed never-before-seen film of the series. He also flashed back to the 1964 finals, which Toronto won in seven games. In Game 6, the Leafs defenseman Bobby Baun was taken off the ice on a stretcher after suffering a broken ankle. He returned to score the overtime winner.