Success Quote by Peter Bondra

Bondra is narrating the moment an elite scorer stops performing hunger and starts performing stewardship. The line is careful, almost preemptively defensive: "I'm not saying I lost my spark - I still have it" is an athlete’s way of guarding legacy in a culture that treats any hint of decline as obituary copy. He’s insisting the tool is still there. What’s changed is the relationship to it.

The real turn happens in the shift from "chase the goal" to "playing for the team". For a star whose value is often measured in highlights and totals, admitting he doesn’t hunt the net the same way is a subtle rebrand: not diminished, evolved. It’s also a nod to the unglamorous math of aging in pro sports. A step slower, fewer rushes, different deployment - even if the hands are intact. Players rarely announce physical limits directly; they translate them into virtue. Team-first language becomes both truth and cover.

The timeframe - "two or three years back" - matters because it frames change as recent and specific, not a long fade. That keeps the speaker in the present tense of contention, not nostalgia. The intent is to reassure coaches and fans that he’s still a scoring threat while signaling maturity: he’ll take what the system gives, not force the play.

Subtext: I’m still dangerous, but I’m negotiating a new identity in a league that worships the old one.