Watch Live: PWHL to introduce Hamilton franchise, fans thrilled to cheer for new pro hockey team

When she was playing hockey as a little kid, 16-year-old Emma McLeod said she and her teammates either wanted to play for Team Canada or break into the NHL. 

"Now we can say, 'I want to play in the professional women's league,'" the Hamilton Hawks U18 defender told CBC News at Inch Park Arena Wednesday. "I just think that's amazing." 

Also, "amazing," McLeod said, is the news that a new PWHL team is coming to her city.

"Hamilton is such a hockey town," the teen said. Her association boasts about 350 girls and women ages six to 22. 

Those players have often had to look to Toronto for role models, McLeod said, and it'll be nice to have some close by.

The pro women's hockey league announced its expansion to Hamilton Wednesday, alongside an expansion to Las Vegas. On May 6, the league announced a new team in Detroit. The three-year-old league now has 11 teams, with a 12th expected soon. 

This is the second new Hamilton pro hockey team announced this year, after the American Hockey League announced the Bridgeport Islanders would be moving to Hamilton in March.

Both the AHL and PWHL teams will play out of TD Coliseum, the downtown Hamilton arena, which underwent significant renovations before re-opening in November. The venue is offering deposits on season tickets for both teams and has said single-game AHL tickets will cost around $30. 

The PWHL scheduled a news conference at the arena at 10:30 a.m. ET Thursday. It said it will announce where the team will train. The AHL team is set to train at a Harry Howell Twin Pad Arena in Hamilton's Waterdown area. 

There will be a news conference announcing that team's new name on May 21. 

PWHL teams coming to Hamilton and Las Vegas

Outside TD Coliseum on Wednesday, passersby told CBC