René Boileau

Joseph Lorenzo Lionel Boileau (May 18, 1904 – June 9, 1969), known as René Boileau, was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played seven games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Americans during the 1925–26 season, and five seasons in various minor-professional leagues. As a publicity stunt, the Americans billed Boileau, a French Canadian, as "the first Native American in the NHL" and claimed his name was Rainy Drinkwater. René was the father of the former NHL hockey player, Marc Boileau.

Playing career Boileau, a native of Pointe-Claire, Quebec, played his only season in the NHL in 1925–26. Prior to joining the Americans, he played three seasons of amateur hockey in Montreal. Americans manager Tommy Duggan was anxious to promote the first-year Americans and upon signing Boileau used him as part of a publicity stunt.

Boileau spent the next five seasons playing professional hockey with the Niagara Falls Cataracts of the Canadian Professional Hockey League, New Haven Eagles of the Canadian American Hockey League and St. Louis Flyers of the American Hockey Association. He then played two seasons of semi-professional hockey in Quebec teams before retiring in 1934.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1923–24 Point Claire Maple Leafs MCHL — — — — — — — — — — 1924–25 Montreal K of C MCHL — — — — — — — — — — 1925–26 Montreal Columbus Club MCHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1925–26 Montreal Bell Telephone MRTHL 3 7 0 7 0 — — — — — 1925–26 New York Americans NHL 7 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1926–27 Niagara Falls Cataracts Can-Pro 18 4 0 4 8 — — — — — 1927–28 New Haven Eagles Can-Am 36 5 3 8 51 — — — — — 1928–29 St. Louis Flyers AHA 36 4 0 4 28 — — — — — 1929–30 St. Louis Flyers AHA 30 2 1 3 46 — — — — — 1930–31 St. Louis Flyers AHA 37 3 0 3 43 — — — — — 1931–32 Trois-Rivieres Renards ECHA 4 0 0 0 6 — — — — — 1933–34 Verdun Maple Leafs MSHL 5 1 0 1 10 2 0 0 0 0 NHL totals 7 0 0 0 0 — — — — —