For nearly five years, coffee lovers and beer nerds have flocked to King State in Tampa. But the brand’s new St. Petersburg location in the COhatch building only lasted about three and a half months before closing.

At the beginning of April, the King State St. Pete Instagram page announced the closure with a post that read simply “BRB” — short for “be right back.” Shortly after that, the rest of the content on the social media account disappeared.

What’s going on with the beloved coffee shop and restaurant’s new location? The Tampa Bay Times chatted with one co-owner to find out.

The future of King State

If King State St. Pete does reopen, it won’t be the same as it was when it closed. Instead, owners want to turn it into a late night bar and eatery that can host events and serve the evening crowd.

“There’s bars in St. Pete, and there’s so many restaurants in St. Pete, but there’s rarely like, really, really good bars with really, really good food,” said co-owner Tim McTague.

McTague and his brother-in-law Nate Young first started the King State coffee brand a decade ago, then opened their first location out of a former car wash and garage at 520 E Floribraska Ave. in Tampa. They were inspired by the third-wave coffee shops they visited in other cities as touring musicians; Young plays drums in alternative/emo group Anberlin and McTague plays guitar in Tampa metal band Underoath.

McTague imagines a spot where people can grab a bite after a night out at the Bends or watching a show at Jannus Live.

“The lights need to be lower, the music needs to be louder. An environment for people, rather than just another place to go eat,” McTague said. “If St. Pete can’t be what we want it to be, then we don’t want it to be anything for us. And that’s really where we’re at.”

Troubles started in Tampa

King State St. Pete was in the works for nearly three years before it soft-opened on Dec. 8, McTague said. Delays in building out the space pushed back the opening for roughly a year and a half.

By the time St. Pete was finally ready to open at 15 8th St N., the brand was already struggling with the original Tampa location. As part of the Floribraska Avenue Complete Streets Project, a city initiative to replace old water pipes and improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians, the entire road in front of the business was closed off. Many patrons assumed the restaurant was closed, too.

King State posted pleas for support on social media and spoke about the road closure at a Tampa City Council meeting. The construction impact, they told council members, had been more economically devastating than the entire COVID-19 pandemic.

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Owners spoke directly with Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and the city’s head of transportation. While construction is done for now, they hope communication and at least one lane will remain open during the next phase later this year.

“You almost need to bat a thousand and shoot bull’s-eyes 365 days a year to even make it,” McTague said. “When you have four to six months of just devastation, so to speak, whether it be access or bulldozers in front of your patio, it just makes a challenging business almost impossible... It was one of the most insane, tense times I think I’ve ever had in my life.”

What led to the pause in St. Pete

If you come to King State in Tampa when it opens at 8 a.m., you’ll find a third-wave coffee shop that serves waffles and breakfast plates. If you swing by around lunch, you can order a pizza and a pint of something from their beer program. By nighttime, it transforms into a cocktail bar where you might find a Bucs watch party. All of it has the same rock ‘n’ roll King State attitude.

When McTague and Young opened their St. Pete location, they brought over their beer, plus new menus for each meal of the day. They were excited to offer breakfast.

“It just turns out that there’s a reason why there’s not a lot of breakfast spots in downtown,” McTague said. “People are not going out to breakfast.”

They scrapped breakfast and leaned into dinner and drinks. But while McTague and Young were busy trying to keep Tampa afloat, St. Pete’s atmosphere and prices started to drift from the brand’s values.

“We’re very approachable. We’re kind of a punk attitude on the food and beverage industry,” McTague said. “[King State St. Pete] almost felt hybrid fine dining, and that’s something that we never really wanted. Looking at the approachability of the menu, from a cost basis all the way down to some of the food offerings, we felt like it wasn’t King State.”

King State Coffee, LLC filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 2.

“Our head executive chef ended up stepping away during our attempts to reorganize the concept,” McTague said. “It wasn’t the deciding factor amidst other things, just like, ‘OK, how did we get all the way here in a matter of two months?’”

Young and McTague decided to pause King State St. Pete for a month or two to reimagine the space.

This was not their first foray into St. Petersburg. In May 2022, McTague and Young opened the Brutalist Temple of Beer at the former Flying Boat Brewing Co. space at 1776 11th Ave. N.

The brewery and taproom struggled to find a consistent food partner and footing in the neighborhood, McTague said. They closed the space in October 2023 to focus on distribution. King State’s beer is now sold in seven states, including every Trader Joe’s in Florida.

“That was just a very easy decision once we realized like, ‘Oh, all of this can still exist in a much much more nimble and flexible way,’” McTague said.

They’re ready to pivot again in St. Pete. But only if it feels like King State.

“We are working with our landlords. They’re fully aware of the situation. They’re very supportive and our hope is to kind of reimagine what that concept is in a way that fits that space,” McTague said. “We’re at a very peaceful spot amidst the chaos.”

Each NFL club undergoes change throughout the offseason, both schematically in installations and personnel-wise via the draft and free agency. For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the running back room will feature the same headliner in 2024 but the system will shift under the direction of new Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen.

Coen, a product of the Sean McVay coaching tree, will implement a system in Tampa Bay with similarities to the structure that benefited Todd Gurley. The Rams created a system based out of 11 personnel (90% in 2018) with an onslaught of motion and pre-snap movement to disorient defenses. Each skill player could line up at virtually every spot, including Gurley, whether out wide or in the backfield. By keeping all three receivers on the field in 11 personnel, defenses had to honor every blade of grass. Some teams would employ base personnel as opposed to a nickel package to try and prevent Gurley from gashing a lighter box. However, given the club's three speedy receivers, defenses were often left with no alternative. Having the same players on the field for nearly every play provided the Rams with an advantage in play-action (34.6% of Jared Goff's dropbacks in 2018), not tipping their hand by formations. Each play, defenses were forced to answer a myriad of questions: Downhill attempt? Sweep? Pass? Gurley barreling towards the perimeter?

While the Buccaneers' reimagined offense cannot adequately mirror the Rams' system that fueled a juggernaut featuring Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Todd Gurley and Sammy Watkins, the club's iteration will have similarities to maximize Rachaad White's prowess in space. Tampa Bay's new approach will include West Coast principles to get White, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in different looks to create advantageous matchups.

Down the stretch of the 2023 season, White established himself as one of the best dual-threat backs in the NFL. He concluded the year with over 1,000 yards from scrimmage and fell 10 yards shy of surpassing the 1,000-yard rushing milestone. White accumulated 272 totes for 990 rushing yards, six rushing touchdowns and 3.6 yards per attempt. In addition, he showcased his pass-catching skills with 549 receiving yards on 70 catches for an average of 8.6 yards per reception.

"If you are a guy in this league, you want to be a guy that is scouted for and respected," said White. "I have seen that and people just leaving me out. I saw that and wanted to make the most and make people fear me, make people respect me and to say when I come in the game, 'It is not just 13, 14. [No. 1] you have to worry about too.'"

Whether being motioned out of the backfield or aligned in empty packages, White made defenders miss in space. He became a dynamic threat off screens and sweeps, displaying burst getting north post-jump step. White stacked cuts when maneuvering around linebackers and displayed balance/body control as a pass-catcher. He developed at finishing runs with a forward-charge mentality during the second-half stretch of last year's campaign and White will be a focal point in Tampa Bay's revamped offensive attack in 2024.

BOSTON -- The Bruins missed out on a chance to claim the Atlantic Division on Monday night when they were shut out by the Washington Capitals. Boston can make up for it Tuesday night with a win over the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden in their final game of the regular season.

But the question is, do the Bruins really want the Atlantic crown and the first-round matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning that comes with it? We'll get a good idea on an answer when the B's take the ice against Ottawa on Tuesday.

With one game left for Boston, the Bruins currently sit atop the Atlantic Division with 109 points, a single point ahead of the Florida Panthers. The Panthers will also play their final game of the regular season Tuesday night when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Bruins will clinch the Atlantic and set up a first-round meeting with the Lightning (the top wild card team with 96 points entering Tuesday night's action) if any one of the following three scenarios play out Tuesday night:

-A Bruins win in any fashion-A Panthers loss in regulation-Both teams lose in overtime or a shootout

And here's what would need to happen for the Bruins to finish second in the division, which would set up a first-round matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs (third in the Atlantic with 102 points):

-A Bruins loss and a Panthers win-A Bruins loss in regulation and a Panthers loss in overtime or a shootout

Florida has a 41-36 edge over Boston in regulation wins, so the Panthers own the tie-breaker over the Bruins should the two teams finish with the same amount of points.

Now, who would the Bruins prefer to play when the postseason arrives in Boston on Saturday? Both the Lightning and the Leafs possess talented offenses that can score in bunches, with Toronto atop the Eastern Conference with 297 goals entering Tuesday. Tampa Bay is right behind them with 285 goals. Boston is fourth in the East at 266 goals scored this season.

But the Bruins absolutely own one of those teams, and would likely prefer to see them when the puck drops for the playoffs this weekend.

That would be the Leafs, whom the Bruins have beat in the first round three times in recent years; in 2013, 2018, and 2019 -- all in heartbreaking seven-game series. Boston won all four matchups this year during the regular season, outscoring the Leafs 14-7. The Bruins won each of the last two matchups 4-1, with Jeremy Swayman making 60 saves across the two victories.

The Bruins have had much less success against Tampa Bay, both during the season and in recent playoff matchups. The Lightning won three of the four regular-season meetings, including the most recent matchup, 3-1, in Tampa a few weeks ago. Linus Ullmark was 1-1-1 with a 2.28 GAA in his three games against the Lightning, while Swayman suffered a 5-4 overtime loss in the first meeting of the season back in November despite making 47 saves in net.

The 2011 Bruins beat the Lightning in a dramatic seven-game Eastern Conference Final en route to their Stanley Cup championship, but Boston hasn't won a playoff series over Tampa Bay since. The Lightning sent the Bruins home in the second round of both the 2018 and 2020 NHL playoffs.

So the B's would probably like to avoid a first-round meeting with the Lightning. But playing good teams goes with the territory in the playoffs, and the potentially top-seeded Bruins should welcome any challenge.

Matt Geagan

Matthew Geagan is a sports writer and producer for CBS Boston and wbz.com. He has been part of the WBZ sports team for nearly 20 years.

TAMPA – Eric Comrie will start in goal for the Buffalo Sabres’ season finale against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Monday.

It will be Comrie’s first appearance since March 7. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen started 14 of 16 games since then, with Devon Levi having started the other two.

“I think the guys will be dialed in,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “Comrie goes to the net, I know they’re very excited to play in front of him because he means so much to them and is such a great teammate and great person.”

Pregame coverage on MSG/MSG+ begins at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7. Radio coverage can be found on WGR 550.

Here are five things to know.

Here’s how the group lined for its morning skate:

FORWARDS

77 JJ Peterka – 72 Tage Thompson – 89 Alex Tuch

9 Zach Benson – 24 Dylan Cozens – 22 Jack Quinn

53 Jeff Skinner – 19 Peyton Krebs – 12 Jordan Greenway

28 Zemgus Girgensons – 17 Tyson Jost – 71 Victor Olofsson

DEFENSEMEN

26 Rasmus Dahlin – 10 Henri Jokiharju

4 Bowen Byram – 25 Owen Power

78 Jacob Bryson – 75 Connor Clifton

GOALIES

31 Eric Comrie

1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Comrie is approaching the conclusion of the two-year deal he signed with the Sabres in summer 2022. The 28-year-old made good on his reputation as a positive locker-room presence and a hard worker, often staying on the ice well after practices to spend time with shooters.

Those factors, combined with the impression Comrie made on two younger goaltenders in Levi and Luukkonen, all played into him getting the start Monday, according to his coach.

“We just think it’s right as a staff, as an organization,” Granato said. “This is a guy that has helped us and helped two very young goalies, two very inexperienced goalies. He’s really been an extremely positive influence on their progressions, their development, and the rest of our group.”

Jack Quinn has nine goals in just 26 games this season after scoring in each of the last two contests. The 22-year-old missed the start of the season due to an offseason Achilles’ injury, then sustained a second lower-body injury that required surgery ahead of the All-Star break.

“I hope he gets his 10th goal tonight in a very short time,’ Granato said. “I mean, that would be unbelievable. Especially coming back from injuries and you see how few games he played. It usually takes players a while to get back into a rhythm and in sync.

“… I mentioned it from the outset, that is one of our most talented players, one of our smartest players, and it’s just nice to see him back on the ice.”

Henri Jokiharju enters Saturday with assists in three straight games. An assist against the Lightning would mark the longest streak of his career.

The Sabres have a 2-1-0 record through three meetings with the Lightning this season, including a 3-2 win in Tampa in the most recent meeting on Feb. 29. The Sabres have held forward Nikita Kucherov – who leads the NHL with 141 points – to just one assist in those contests.

Tampa Bay is locked into the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with two games remaining.

Nick Jensen was taken from the ice on a stretcher in the first period for the Washington Capitals against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Capital One Arena on Saturday.

Jensen was hit hard into the boards at center ice by Lightning forward Michael Eyssimont as he attempted to dump the puck in the offensive zone at 18:29. No penalty was assessed to Eyssimont on the play.

Jensen received treatment on the ice for about five minutes before he was stretchered off. The officials then had both teams head to the locker rooms, with the remaining 1:31 of the first period to be played after the intermission.

“Scary situation. He’s doing better, though, than -- initially when you see something like that, someone stretchered off, you’re thinking the worst-case situations," Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. "He’s doing better. He walked out of the building with his family tonight. Didn’t go to the hospital. That was very, very positive, thinking that other situations [could’ve happened]. That’s good. Obviously, he’s going to be out, but good that he was able to walk out of the building with his family. That was good.

"And also, too, I want to just quickly say from a medical staff standpoint, not only from 'Serbs' (head athletic trainer Jason Serbus) and the on-ice, but the off-ice, how quickly that happened and they were able to get out there, Dr. Liz (Elizabeth Delasobera). They were just so, it looked like, dialed in with everything that was going on. It was really impressive to see that and for help to be there so quickly for 'Jens' in that situation.”

Jensen has 14 points (one goal, 13 assists) in 77 games this season for Washington (38-31-11), which currently holds the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

“Yeah, it’s tough to see anybody, but he’s a special kid for me," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who coached Jensen with Green Bay of the USHL. "We won a championship in the USHL together. He’s awesome. Those are tough ones to see, especially because of the result of the hit and it wasn’t penalized, nor should it have been. It was just a tough one all the way around. I’m hoping he’s OK. I heard he’s doing OK, and so hopefully he’s not out after tonight.”