There just wasn’t any other way out.

And at 67 years old, former Lewiston Maineiacs majority owner Mark Just was at his wits’ end, attempting to remain healthy while dealing with substantial financial losses, as well as dealing with his personal life away from hockey.

“I talked with several other people in the league who I respect, and they all said, ‘Mr. Just, there comes a time when you have to worry about your own family, too.’ If I had another year or two like I’ve had the last four years, I’d have nothing left, and didn’t work 40 years to have nothing left and try to have a hockey team in Lewiston.”

The ultimate reality is, Just was going broke as fewer and fewer people showed up to watch the team perform.

“I don’t know that I could have gone through another year with having a thousand people in the building while our kids are playing their hearts out,” Just said. “It broke my heart this year. I don’t think it was fair to our kids to have that happen. Pouring in another $715,000 like I did this year into something where there’s a thousand people in the building, it just didn’t make any sense, and I feel terrible about it.”

Wendell Young, long a silent partner of Just’s and a minority owner with the Maineiacs, said this week he would have pulled out of Lewiston long before now.

“It’s almost a relief to get this over with,” Young said. “It’s been draining. I know it’s emotionally tough on Mark, but it’s been emotionally and financially draining on both of us for a while, to a degree that most people probably wouldn’t put up with.”

Young said he would have done certain things — though he did not get specific — differently had he been in full control, knowing now what he didn’t know then.

“I’ve been in the background the whole time. Things have pretty much always happened without my being involved,” Young said. “That’s the way it was in Halifax, too. I know had I moved in and been a part of management. I know a lot of things would have been done differently. There would have been a lot of different hires, a lot of different attention to details, just from my own experience. I deal with that on a daily basis myself now, and I know that a lot of things that went on shouldn’t have gone on.”

Paul Spellman, who bought into the team as a minority owner last summer, was sad that the franchise couldn’t work despite his best efforts. But he also said he understands where Just is coming from.

“He subsidized the fans’ hockey entertainment in Lewiston year after year, and that decision could no longer be made on emotion,” Spellman said. “Eventually the financial reality trumps one’s good intentions. Believe me, the events of the past few days have taken a toll on him physically as well as emotionally.”

Perhaps he was exhausted, but Just also had a bit of time Tuesday to reflect on his time as an owner, particularly on the memories he’ll leave behind.

“I’m very appreciative of 18 years I had, a dream I had to own a hockey team,” Just said. “I’m proud we went to a Memorial Cup, I’m proud of what a lot of the players that played for me have become on the ice, and what they’ve done off the ice. There are a lot of rewards I’ve had. I wish it would have ended differently, where we could have had at least a couple more years and I could have sold it to someone down there and enjoyed the next two years with a great team.”