"The Canadiens were not afraid of losing to the Leafs in 1967," Cournoyer said. "We had the Cup in our pocket. But we lost, and from that day I was always afraid of losing.
"Against the Soviets, before Game 1 in Montreal, just before we left for the Forum, I told [Canada forward] Frank Mahovlich, 'I'm worried. I don't know the Russians. I've never played against them. I don't know how they play. I'm going to war and I don't even know my enemy.'
"All that we knew about them was that they wore bad skates, ugly helmets and played with ugly sticks. But they were good hockey players. They were in shape, which we were not. And you know what happened that night."
The Soviets thumped Canada 7-3, a result no one expected. The USSR gave Canada all it could handle and then some before Henderson's goal for the ages in the final minute of the final game.
Cournoyer had three goals and two assists in the series. He scored what would be the game-winner in Game 2, a must-win for Canada in Toronto two nights after the embarrassment in Montreal; scored the tying goal midway through the third period of Game 8; then played a huge role in Henderson's clincher, leading to their hug, which was immortalized in a photograph.
On Tuesday morning, the sun still not up, Cournoyer was headed to Winnipeg for that night's multimedia Summit Series event with a number of his 1972 teammates, all of them happy to answer the same questions from fans they've heard hundreds of times before, many of those admirers not alive when the games were played.
Before he boarded, joking that his replaced joints would trip the airport's metal detectors, Cournoyer sat with NHL.com to talk about the Summit Series and how it continues to define a large part of his hockey life.