If it all comes naturally, Cournoyer says it's because he learned well from Beliveau, who famously answered by hand every piece of fan mail that reached him from 1953, when he arrived in Montreal from Quebec City, through cancer treatment, using his experience to buoy other cancer patients, until 2010, when the first of two strokes left him unable to sign his name the way he believed fans deserved.
Throughout our visit, Cournoyer flexed his meaty left hand, which was swollen because of a carpal tunnel problem he soon will have repaired surgically.
"But I'm right-handed so I can still sign autographs," he joked, signing a few more in the alumni lounge for star-struck fans.
Over his shoulder was the corner where Beliveau would sit when he attended Bell Centre games. The small couch has been replaced by a few chairs, where Beliveau's wife, Elise, their daughter, Helene, and their guests now gather between periods and until traffic has thinned out after the final siren.
"There is no doubt that Jean's presence will always be felt in that corner, in this room and around the team," Cournoyer said, friendship and reverence blended as one. "Maybe the greatest compliment you could give him would be to say that he was a teammate. No matter how much we looked up to him, Jean was one of the guys because he wanted to be."