With the knockout stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup kicking off Saturday in Brazil, TSN.cas panel of experts is back with a full set of predictions for the Round of 16 all the way through the Final. Read on to find out which team has the legs to outlast the cream of the crop and emerge as 2014 World Champions. The panel consists of TSN Soccer Analysts Jason deVos, Luke Wileman and Kristian Jack, TSN Radio 1050 Toronto host Gareth Wheeler, TSN Radio 690 Montreals Noel Butler and TSN.ca soccer editors Shane McNeil and Ken Rodney. Round of 16: Brazil def. Chile Though a unanimous choice from TSNs panel, Brazil will be in tough against a Chilean side that dislodged the defending champions from Spain. If handed a lesser opponent, Chile might be a dark horse advancement pick, but drawing the hosts was always the likely peril for whomever finished second in Group B. Brazil was a unanimous choice Colombia def. Uruguay A very conspicuous absence threatens to overshadow what would otherwise be an exciting clash between two of South Americas less-heralded giants. In the end, though, Luis Suarez suspension almost levels the playing field as Colombia has been and will be without its biggest threat – Radamel Falcao – for the entire tournament. Despite his absence, Colombia has been dominant in Brazil, piling up more goals than all but one team in the group stage. If James Rodriguez keeps at his group-stage pace and Colombia goes deep, he would be a legitimate Golden Ball contender. Picks: Butler, deVos, Jack, McNeil, Rodney, Wheeler, Wileman – Colombia; Jack - Uruguay France def. Nigeria Few were surprised when France handled Honduras to open the tournament, but Les Bleus made a definitive statement, pouring in five goals (and what likely should have been six but for a quick final whistle) against the top-ranked Swiss side. Karim Benzema has been a force alongside Olivier Giroud and if he continues his Golden Boot pursuit, France should certainly be on its way to the quarters at least. France was a unanimous choice Germany def. Algeria Algeria has caught a lot of teams napping, but will they be able to stun the perennial powers from Germany? Probably not as Thomas Muller scores seemingly at will and Miroslav Klose sits one fortuitous substitution away from the record book. The Greens have made history already in Brazil with their first ever advancement. The miracle run ends here, though. Germany was a unanimous choice Netherlands def. Mexico Though an overwhelming favourite, the Dutch present themselves as the first pick on to create a rift between our analysts. The reason? Mexican keeper Guillermo Ochoa. The man has been simply ridiculous and has already proven that hes single-handedly capable of withstanding an elite offence, having held Brazil scoreless. Gareth Wheeler and Kristian Jack are believers, but the rest of the panel is seeing Oranje for the quarters. Picks: Butler, deVos, McNeil, Rodney, Wileman – Netherlands; Jack, Wheeler - Mexico Costa Rica def. Greece It comes as no surprise that a match-up between two unlikely entrants provides the most divisive result in terms of predictions. Thats no slight to either team or their achievements, but on this same panel no one predicted Costa Rica to get through prior to the start of the tournament and only one had Greece advancing (Shane McNeil, in an extremely lucky guess). Consensus seems to be that the Ticos – having already dispatched England and Italy – will be able to handle Greece, but its not a sitter by any means. Picks: deVos, McNeil, Rodney, Wheeler – Costa Rica; Butler, Jack, Wileman - Greece Argentina def. Switzerland Or is it Lionel Messi that defeats Switzerland? The Argentines have gotten just two goals that didnt come off the Little Magicians boot and one of those was an own-goal from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The pressure will be even more firmly on Messi as Sergio Aguero will miss at least the Swiss match if not more, but our panel has complete faith in the Argentines here. Argentina was a unanimous choice Belgium def. United States Another divisive choice, but Belgium gets a slight edge over the Americans in this match-up. The Americans had a foot in the second round before Cristiano Ronaldos highlight-reel cross snatched victory out of their hands. Clint Dempsey and the return of Jozy Altidore will provide a handful for the Belgians, but with a balanced attack that has produced four different goal scorers and with Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku yet to register, Belgium gets the edge. Picks: Butler, deVos, Jack, McNeil, Wheeler – Belgium; Rodney, Wileman - USA Semifinals: Things get a bit fragmented once the quarters set in. A Brazil-Germany semifinal appears to be on the minds of many of our analysts, but its by no means by acclaim as both Noel Butler and Wheeler see upsets in the offing. On the other side Argentinas a safe bet with McNeil providing the lone vote of dissent in favour of the Belgians while the Dutch have been given a healthy dose of competition in the form of Mexico and/or Greece. Picks: deVos - Brazil def. Germany, Argentina def. Netherlands; Butler - Brazil def. France, Argentina def. Greece; Jack - Brazil def. Germany, Argentina def. Mexico; McNeil - Brazil def. Germany, Belgium def. Netherlands; Rodney - Germany def. Brazil, Argentina def. Netherlands; Wheeler - Germany def. Colombia, Argentina def. Mexico; Wileman - Brazil def. Germany, Argentina def. Netherlands Champions: It appears primed to go one of three ways, or so sayeth we. Will Brazil exorcise the ghosts of 1950 and finally win the Cup at home? Thats the opinion of Jason deVos, Luke Wileman as well as McNeil. Meanwhile, Jack and Wheeler continue to keep away from the pack, predicting a first-ever championship in the Americas for a European nation. Theyve got their money down on the Germans. Ken Rodney and Noel Butler, meanwhile, have gone rogue on the panel and stood in direct opposition to the Brazil-backers. Theyll get the bragging rights should Lionel Messi add a World Cup title onto his “Best Player in the World” case-file. Picks: deVos, McNeil, Wileman – Brazil; Butler, Rodney - Argentina; Jack, Wheeler - Germany Fake NBA Jerseys China . The right-hander said he threw about 30 pitches in a routine bullpen session Sunday at Yankee Stadium, his final hurdle before starting Tuesday night at Tampa Bay. Fake NBA Jerseys Sale . Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria. http://www.fakenbajerseys.com/. Lisicki beat South African Chanelle Scheepers by a 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) margin. Next up for the Wimbledon runner-up will be Slovenian Polona Hercog, who outlasted Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. Fake NBA Jerseys 2019 . In the second game of their day/night doubleheader at Minneapolis, three Blue Jays pitchers, Steve Delabar, Sergio Santos and J. Wholesale Fake NBA Jerseys . scored 18 of his career- high 28 points in the first half, as fifth-ranked Ohio State dominated No.Its a new generation in Detroit, an elder statesman keeps getting it done in New Jersey, Lecavalier struggling, Muzzin and Bartkowski playing bigger roles and more in Scott Cullens latest NHL blog. 1. Its been a tough year for the Detroit Red Wings, not least of all because of injuries. Hey, all teams have injuries, but the Red Wings are heavily-dependent on veteran forwards Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, both of whom have missed time and, at the moment, are both out of the lineup. But, necessity is the mother of invention and the Red Wings have pressed their young forwards into service. Riley Sheahan, Tomas Tatar, Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Jurco (and even a returning-from-injury Darren Helm) have been crucial to keeping the Red Wings treading water as they wait for their star forwards to return. There is an argument to be made that the ever-patient Red Wings might have opened doors sooner for their young players, rather than trot out the likes of Dan Cleary, Jordin Tootoo and Mikael Samuelsson right out of the gate. Sheahan, Tatar, Nyquist and Jurco all played for Calder Cup-champion Grand Rapids in the AHL last season, and all four have made a successful adjustment to the NHL game. Its early in their careers, of course, but they are part of the reason the Red Wings are still within striking distance of a playoff berth, a position that was pretty much unthinkable for a team that hasnt missed the postseason since 1990 and was supposed to have an easier time with their move to the Eastern Conference. 2. Though the New Jersey Devils came up short in Sundays Stadium Series game at Yankee Stadium, Devils RW Jaromir Jagr continued his brilliant season, adding two more assists to give him a team-leading 44 points in 53 games. This is a far cry from Jagr in his peak years, when he was the most productive scorer in the game, by a healthy margin, for more than a decade, but no less remarkable. Jagr is 41-years-old and has a shot to surpass Mark Messier in 2000-2001 as the second-highest-scoring player in a 40-year-old plus season since 1980. (Teemu Selannes 80 points in 2010-2011 seems safe.) On top of those historical numbers, Jagr is also delivering strong possesion numbers, ranked 18th among forwards in Corsi% (minimum 500 minutes). Yes, his game is offensively-slanted, but he remains a beast on the puck in the offensive zone. 3. A veteran forward that is having a harder time of it is Flyers C Vincent Lecavalier, who has two goals and six points in his past 20 games, going back to late November and hes been getting destroyed in puck possession. Most recently, hes been playing with Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn, but all of the Flyers forwards have been faring better without Lecavalier, which is a precipitous decline for a 33-year-old forward, especially one that has four more years remaining on his deal. Somehow, the Flyers are going to have to find a way to make Lecavalier a productive player, whether that means time on the wing, more sheltered minutes or different line combinations. 4. Lightning rookie C Tyler Johnson has been thrust into a more significant role in the absence of Steven Stamkos and, while hes not making anyone forget one of the games premier goal-scorers, Johnson has been great. In the past 25 games, Johnson has played more than 20 minutes per game, with Saturdays hat trick against Colorado giving him 10 goals and 21 points in those 25 games. Johnson was the AHL MVP last season, scoring 65 points in 62 games with Syracuse, so he has the offensive pedigree, and hes moved into a tie with Nathan MacKinnon for the rookie scoring lead, with 34 points in 52 games. The challenge will be figuring out where Johnson fits once Stamkos returns. At this rate, Johnson is going to give Valtteri Filppula plenty of competition for second-line centre minutes. 5. Kings D Jake Muzzin has taken a bigger role on the Los Angeles defence, as the Kings reduce the workload of veteran Robyn Regehr, who has been decidedly at the opposite end of the possession spectrum compared to Muzzin. Regehr is averaging 16:28 ATOI per game in January, his lowest monthly average since February, 2002 (minimum three games) and while Muzzin has put up spectacular possession stats in his career, hes led a rather sheltered existence for the most part. Now, paired with Drew Doughty and taking on tougher assignments, its an opportunity for Muzzin to prove hes worthy of the responsibility. 6. The Boston Bruins knew that they would have to deal with a major loss to their lineup when D Dennis Seidenber suffered a season-ending knee injury, and they are naturally looking for a replacement. Its not easy to trade for top-four defencemen, but the Bruins have assets to move in order to facilitate a deal, if they can find the right match. Potential unrestricted free agents on teams on the outside of the playoff picture include Henrik Tallinder, Tom Gilbert, Andrew MacDonald, Nick Schultz, and ex-Bruins Derek Morris and Mark Stuart, all of whom come with some warts, but its not like Seidenberg was universally-heralded when the Bruins acquired him from Florida in March, 20100.dddddddddddd Whats interesting about the Bruins current situation is that the defenceman who is rising up to play bigger minutes in Seidenbergs absence is Matt Bartkowski, who was acquired from Florida with Seidenberg. Bartkowski, 25, had played 20 career NHL games prior to this season and is making a modest $650,000 this season, so it was no surprise that he started the year seventh on the depth chart, dressing in four of the first 16 games. But, with Seidenberg out, Bartkowski has played 20:44 per game in January, ranking third on the Bruins behind Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk, and while hes not a possession beast, Bartkowski has held in his own in that ice time, giving the Bruins some time to make a deal and giving them another option on the blueline going forward. Between Bartkowski, Kevan Miller and Torey Krug, the Bruins are getting some mileage out of low picks/undrafted free agents on their blueline. 7. Sabres C Steve Ott is a versatile veteran forward who can play centre or wing and, on a Sabres team full of prospects and cast-offs, that has resulted in a surprisingly prominent role, playing 19:45 per game this season (up from last years career-high 18:33 ATOI) to lead all Buffalo forwards. Ott has spent his time lately on a line with Cody Hodgson, tallying eight points (2 G, 6 A) in the past nine games. Considering Ott is an unrestricted free agent at seasons end, and one that plays the gritty style teams tend to covet going into the playoffs. While Ott does, like all Sabres, tend to get beat up in possession game, and has a team-worst minus-20, some of that is a function of playing way too much, more than he would on a playoff contender. 8. Hurricanes LW Jiri Tlusty was one of the leagues luckiest last season, scoring 23 goals in 48 games, while scoring on 19.7% of his shots while playing with Eric Staal and Alexander Semin on Carolinas number one line. It was natural, then, to expect regression this season and Tlusty obliged, but to a ridiculous degree, scoring four goals and eight points in his first 35 games. Also, naturally, he was no longer skating on the Hurricanes top line. That has changed more recently, however, and Tlusty has seen his ice time head upwards (over 17 minutes per game) in the past four, during which hes scored five points (2 G, 3 A). Considering the Hurricanes top line has a low on-ice shooting percentage, especially compared to last season, which could be regression at work, or could be some room for that trio to finish strong this year, which could make Tlusty surprisingly relevant for fantasy owners, at least as far as forwards with 15 points this season would rate. 9. Hes not a big numbers guy, with one assist in 16 games, but there is reason to keep an eye on Oilers rookie D Martin Marincin, who is the one Edmonton defenceman (with more than 10 games played) to have positive possession numbers. As a result, his ice time is going up, to 18:50 per game in the past seven, and over 19 minutes in each of the past three. For an Oilers team that desperately needs to tilt the ice in the other direction, with so much of it focused on blueline improvement, Marincins development is a small positive. 10. An update on the move of Jets D-turned-RW Dustin Byfuglien, who has been skating at forward for eight games, scoring two goals and four assists, with 23 shots on goal. His ice time is down, as expected, to 19:20 per game, and his shots per game is actually down a bit, to 2.88 per game. For fantasy owners, who get the benefit of Byfugliens eligibility on defence, hes still super valuable. If he can continue to produce as a winger, it may not be as valuable as a 25-minute-per-game defenceman, but its not likely going to get re-visited until the Jets run into trouble. When a team is getting good results, theyre not likely to make major changes. After all, it was practically Claude Noels last gasp as head coach to move Byfuglien forward. FIRST NHL GAMES Joonas Nattinen, C, Montreal - A third-round pick of the Canadiens in 2009, Nattinen has decent size, but has produced middling results in the AHL, 42 points in 127 career games, so he got an opportunity due to injuries, but it was only a cup of coffee against Toronto, playing a total of 1:45 in his NHL debut. Joe Whitney, LW, New Jersey - Listed at 5-foot-6, Whitney is another diminutive forward to come out of Boston College and hes been scoring in the AHL, putting up 88 points in 108 games over the past two seasons. He got a shot on the Devils top line, with Travis Zajac and Jaromir Jagr in his debut, but the 25-year-old was returned to the minors after playing eight minutes against Washington. Philip Varone, C, Buffalo - A fifth-round pick of the Sharks in 2009, Varone wasnt signed by the Sharks, but was signed as a free agent by the Sabres in 2012. Hes put up 120 points in 176 career AHL games, earning his first taste of NHL action, getting more than 11 minutes per game on a line with Brian Flynn and Marcus Foligno. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '