NEW ULM — Brody Nordy, who scored 10 goals and added 24 assists last season for the New Ulm Eagles hockey team, has signed a tender to play with the Helena Bighorns of the North American Tier III Hockey League.

The Bighorns play in the Frontier Division of the NA3HL.

Nordby, a forward, said that signing with Helena came about when he talked with former high school teammate at New Ulm — Austin Uecker — who also plays with Helena.

“He put in a good word for me and I have been talking with [Damon Hanson] for about a year,” Nordby said. “He sent me an offer and I signed.”

Nordby said that he has a few other options where he could sign.

“But right now [Helena] is one of my top choices,” he said. “I am not 100 percent sure yet.”

Nordby has been prepping for the jump from high school hockey to junior hockey this offseason with a lot of work in the gym getting stronger and faster to be able to jump to that next level.

Nordby said that playing junior hockey has been a dream of his since he was a kid.

“I want to play my hockey career out and see what happens,” he said. “My end goal is to play college hockey. I know it is going to take a lot of hard work — dedication and a lot of long hours. I am going to have to work hard for it.”

Nordby said that in talking with Uecker is that junior hockey is a whole different game than high school.

“But is also really fun,” he said.”The players are a lot stronger and faster — they are better players than high school. Austin said he really likes it,”

And when you play for a team and in a league that is almost 1,700 miles and over 15 hours away from home, living with a billet family (host family) for seven to eight months can be a big adjustment.

“I do have a little experience with that — it will be tough being pretty far away from my family — and living for myself. Have to do my own laundry and make your own food.”

Nordby said that making that jump is really 50-50 mental and physical.

While Nordby has tendered with Helena, he said he has other options to play junior hockey in different leagues other than the NA3HL in Canada and in Casper, Wyoming, and will make a final choice in the next few weeks, so the tender with Helena would not be binding.