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“I always wanted to watch old games as a kid,” he says. “But I was told they didn’t exist, only they did.”

Among the archival treasures he unearthed was a 13-minute clip from the five-goal game, including one of the disputed goals. I showed a copy of it to Wally Stanowski. The DVD whirred to life. Players appeared, and the years peeled away. The Whirling Dervish was young again, and at the point for a face-off in the Chicago end.

Leafs great Ted Kennedy wins the draw. The puck gets tipped back to Stanowski. He shoots and … the film mysteriously skips for a fraction of a second — at the exact moment when Meeker either tipped the puck, or didn’t.

The footage is inconclusive.

But Meeker’s opinion of what happened then and what his old teammate is up to now is decisive. “Stanowski is getting old,” the 1947 NHL rookie of the year says from his home in Parksville, B.C. Why else would he complain about a game that happened “68 years ago?”

“Those were two horse-s— goals,” Meeker adds, explaining how one deflected off his stick while the second hit him in the “ass.”

Furthermore: “The only reason I was standing in front of the net was because Wally’s shot couldn’t break a pane of glass. If he had any spit on his shot, he would have scored a million goals.”

Instead, Stanowski scored 23 goals over a 10-year career, winning four Cups and once getting suspended by Leafs owner, Conn Smythe, for the sin of sleeping with his own wife during training camp. He was later traded to New York after performing an impromptu figure skating routine during a break in the action at the Boston Garden (“I think that’s how I got the nickname the Whirling Dervish,” he says).

Now he is 95, listening to Fats Domino and working at puzzles to keep his mind sharp in a room decorated with old black and white photographs from his playing career.

But one memento is missing. Wally Stanowski wants his goals back.

“I never liked [Meeker] that much,” he says. “He should have admitted the fact.”

Meeker, unruffled by the allegations, suggests a compromise.

“If Wally wants to take a goal back, he can take one, and I’ll take four,” he says, cackling with glee. “What’s the difference?”