icenetwork.com

World champion Mao Asada will skate in France and Japan this season. (Getty Images)

By Todd Hinckley

(06/14/2008) - The International Skating Union (ISU) announced the dates, locations and skater selections for the 2008-09 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series on Saturday morning at a meeting in Monaco.

The GP Series, now in its 14th season, includes six events that are held in six countries all over the world. Skaters acquire points through their finish in each appearance, and at the end of the six competitions, the top-six finishers in ladies, men's, pairs and ice dancing will head to the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, to be held Dec. 10-14 in Seoul, Korea.

There are several interesting match-ups in this year's pairings, and they will make for thrilling competitions throughout the season. Icenetwork.com gives you a snapshot of the upcoming season.

Skate America
October 24-26, 2008
Everett, Wash.

The Grand Prix Series begins in the Pacific Northwest in Everett, Wash., about 30 miles north of Seattle. The United States will send a particularly strong contingent of skaters to the event on home ice, with the national champions in all four disciplines -- Mirai Nagasu, Evan Lysacek, Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker, and Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto -- scheduled to appear. The U.S. is also sending defending champion Kimberly Meissner, world bronze medalist Johnny Weir, and world junior champions Rachael Flatt, Adam Rippon, Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates.

But the top competition will not be coming from the States alone. World bronze medalist Yu-Na Kim will be making her first career appearance at Skate America. Two of Japan's best ladies, 2007 world champion Miki Ando and Yukari Nakano, will add to the intense ladies competition.

In the pairs field, McLaughlin and Brubaker will face a stiff test from fellow Americans Rena Inoue and John Baldwin and world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy.

Belbin and Agosto will take their first crack at world champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder in the ice dancing competition.

Here are the full assignments:

Skate America — Everett, Wash. — Oct. 24-26
Ladies	Men	Pairs	Ice Dancing
Mira Leung, CAN	Sergei Davydov, BLR	Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin, CAN	Kristin Fraser and Igor Lukanin, AZE
Yan Liu, CHN	Kevin van der Perren, BEL	Yue Zang and Lei Wang, CHN	Allie Hann-McCurdy and Michael Coreno, CAN
Susanna Pöykiö, FIN	Christopher Mabee, CAN	Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, GER	Pernelle Carron and Mathieu Jost, FRA
Annette Dytrt, GER	Kevin Reynolds, CAN	Dominika Piatkowska and Dmitri Khromin, POL	Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder, FRA
Valentina Marchei, ITA	Shawn Sawyer, CAN	Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov, RUS	Sinead Kerr and John Kerr, GBR
Miki Ando, JPN	Chengjiang Li, CHN	Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, USA	Katherine Copely and Deividas Stagniunas, LTU
Yukari Nakano, JPN	Takahiko Kozuka, JPN	Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker, USA	Maria Monko and Ilia Tkachenko, RUS
Yu-Na Kim, KOR	Andrei Griazev, RUS	Caitlin Yankowskas and John Coughlin, USA	Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, USA
Tugba Karademir, TUR	Adrian Schultheiss, SWE		Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates, USA
Rachael Flatt, USA	Evan Lysacek, USA		TBA, USA
Kimberly Meissner, USA	Adam Rippon, USA
Mirai Nagasu, USA	Johnny Weir, USA

Skate Canada
Oct. 30-Nov 2, 2008
Ottawa, Canada

Like the Americans at Skate America, the Canadians will be sending a very strong group to their home event, headlined by world champion Jeffrey Buttle. He will have to fight for the men's gold, though, because he'll be joined by countryman Patrick Chan, who wrestled away the Canadian national title last January. Two-time world champion Stéphane Lambiel will make his first appearance under new coaches Galina Zmievskaya and Viktor Petrenko. Lysacek will also be in Ottawa, competing for the second straight week.

World silver medalist Carolina Kostner will be at Skate Canada for the first time since 2005. The hometown favorite will be Joannie Rochette, while Caroline Zhang will be starting her second senior Grand Prix season.

Leading the pairs field are world bronze medalists Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison, Canadian national champs Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay, Russian national champs Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov and U.S. champs McLaughlin and Brubaker.

Canada's young couple Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the world silver medalists, will be the favorites in Ottawa in the ice dancing competition, while the American couples -- Meryl Davis and Charlie White and Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre -- will try to upset them.

Here are the full assignments:

Skate Canada — Ottawa, Canada — Oct. 30-Nov. 2
Ladies	Men	Pairs	Ice Dancing
Cynthia Phaneuf, CAN	Jeffrey Buttle, CAN	Jessica Dubé and Byrce Davison, CAN	Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier, CAN
Joannie Rochette, CAN	Patrick Chan, CAN	Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay, CAN	Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, CAN
Myriane Samson, CAN	TBA, CAN	TBA, CAN	TBA, CAN
Kiira Korpi, FIN	Yannick Ponsero, FRA	Huibo Dong and Yiming Wu, CHN	Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat, FRA
Jenni Vähämaa, FIN	Karel Zelenka, ITA	Dominika Piatkowska and Dmitri Khromin, POL	Cathy Reed and Chris Reed, JPN
Jenna McCorkell, GBR	Yasuharu Nanri, JPN	Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov, USA	Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, RUS
Carolina Kostner, ITA	Vladimir Uspenski, RUS	Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker, USA	Kristina Gorshkova and Vitali Butikov, RUS
Fumie Suguri, JPN	Sergei Voronov, RUS	Jessica Rose Paetsch and Jon Nuss, USA	Meryl Davis and Charlie White, USA
Nana Takeda, JPN	Stéphane Lambiel, SUI		Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre, USA
Alissa Czisny, USA	Evan Lysacek, USA		Jennifer Wester and Daniil Barantsev, USA
Bebe Liang, USA	Brandon Mroz, USA
Caroline Zhang, USA	Ryan Bradley, USA

Cup of China
Nov. 6-9, 2008
Beijing, China

The top Chinese pairs make their first appearance of the GP season in Beijing. World silver medalists Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang and Four Continents champions Qing Pang and Jian Tong will fight for gold.

In the ladies event, Kim and Ando return to the ice, while Finnish national champ Laura Lepistö opens her second Grand Prix season. Sarah Meier will also be making her first 2008-09 appearance.

Buttle will skate for the second straight week, and he will receive some stiff competition in China, particularly from Japan's Daisuke Takahashi, the Czech Republic's Tomas Verner, and Americans Jeremy Abbott and Stephen Carriere.

In ice dancing, Belbin and Agosto will skate in their second event, and they will face the two top Russian teams -- Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin and Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski.

Here are the full assignments:

Cup of China — Beijing, China — Nov. 6-9
Ladies	Men	Pairs	Ice Dancing
Mira Leung, CAN	Jeffrey Buttle, CAN	Mylène Brodeur and John Mattatall, CAN	Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, CAN
Yan Liu, CAN	Vaughn Chipeur, CAN	Jiaqi Li and Jiankun Xu, CHN	Jiameimei Guo and Fei Meng, CHN
Yueren Wang, CHN	Song Gao, CHN	Qing Pang and Jian Tong, CHN	Xintong Huang and Xun Zheng, CHN
Laura Lepistö, FIN	Ming Xu, CHN	Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang, CHN	Xiaoyang Yu and Chen Wang, CHN
Susanna Pöykiö, FIN	Jialiang Wu, CHN	Ksenia Krasilnikova and Konstantin Bezmaternikh, RUS	Alexandra Zaretski and Roman Zaretski, ISR
Julia Sebestyen, HUN	Tomas Verner, CZE	Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov, UKR	Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte, ITA
Miki Ando, JPN	Kensuke Nakaniwa, JPN	Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski, USA	Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, RUS
Yu-Na Kim, KOR	Daisuke Takahashi, JPN	Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig, USA	Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski, RUS
Alena Leonova, RUS	Artem Borodulin, RUS		Anna Zadorozhniuk and Sergei Verbillo, UKR
Sarah Meier, SUI	Kristoffer Berntsson, SWE		Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, USA
Katrina Hacker, USA	Jeremy Abbott, USA
Ashley Wagner, USA	Stephen Carriere, USA

Trophee Eric Bompard
Nov. 14-16, 2008
Paris, France

The French skaters take center stage in Paris, with world silver medalist Brian Joubert opening his 2008-09 season alongside countryman Alban Préaubert. Lambiel will make his second appearance of the season, and Chan will try to defend his surprising Paris title from '07.

World champion Mao Asada will make her 2008-09 Grand Prix debut in Paris, and she'll face competition for the podium from Rochette, Zhang and Emily Hughes, for whom this will be the only Grand Prix event of the season.

The French teams also highlight the dance card, with world champs Delobel and Schoenfelder, as well as Pernelle Carron and Mathieu Jost, competing in Paris. Great Britain's Sinead Kerr and John Kerr will vy for a podium spot, as will Italy's Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali, who will be making their 2008-09 GP debut.

World champions Savchenko and Szolkowy will be skating for the second time, and they are the cream of the pairs crop in France. A trio of French teams will try to skate well in front of the home crowd, while Russia's Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov will try to crash the party with Canada's Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin.

Here are the full assignments:

Trophee Eric Bompard — Paris, France — Nov. 14-16
Ladies	Men	Pairs	Ice Dancing
Joannie Rochette, CAN	Patrick Chan, CAN	Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin, CAN	Kristin Fraser and Igor Lukanin, AZE
Binshu Xu, CHN	Jinlin Guan, CHN	Huibo Dong and Yiming Wu, CHN	Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier, CAN
Kiira Korpi, FIN	Brian Joubert, FRA	Adeline Canac and Maximin Coia, FRA	Zoe Blanc and Pierre-Loup Bouquet, FRA
Candice Didier, FRA	Kim Lucine, FRA	Mélodie Châtaigner and Medhi Bouzzine, FRA	Pernelle Carron and Mathieu Jost, FRA
Gwendoline Didier, FRA	Alban Préaubert, FRA	Vanessa James and Yannick Bonheur, FRA	Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder, FRA
Elene Gedevanishvili, GEO	Peter Liebers, GER	Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, GER	Sinead Kerr and John Kerr, GBR
Valentina Marchei, ITA	Takahiko Kozuka, JPN	Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov, RUS	Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali, ITA
Mao Asada, JPN	Andrei Griazev, RUS	Tiffany Vise and Derek Trent, USA	Maria Monko and Ilia Tkachenko, RUS
Emily Hughes, USA	Gregor Urbas, SLO		Ekaterina Rubleva and Ivan Shefer, RUS
Bebe Liang, USA	Stéphane Lambiel, SUI		Jennifer Wester and Daniil Barantsev, USA
Caroline Zhang, USA	Ryan Bradley, USA
Anastasia Gimazetdinova, UZB	Brandon Mroz, USA

Cup of Russia
Nov. 20-23, 2008
Moscow, Russia

The Russians get the home-ice advantage in Moscow, and their top two dance teams will be there to try to benefit from it. Domnina and Shabalin and Khokhlova and Novitski will each be performing for the second time on the GP circuit. U.S. silver medalists Davis and White, as well as the Israeli brother-and-sister duo, Alexandra Zaretski and Roman Zaretski, will add depth to the field.

In pairs, Kawaguchi and Smirnov will square off with one of China's top teams, Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang. 2007 U.S. champions Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski, skating for the second time in 2008-09, will be trying for the first Grand Prix podium of their young careers.

Italy's Kostner will headline the ladies field, with Switzerland's Meier and America's Flatt and Meissner providing the competition.

European champion Verner and 2007 world champion Joubert will lead the men in Moscow, but Russian champion Voronov will hope to grab gold in the Motherland. Belgium's Kevin van der Perren will also have a shot at the podium.

Here are the full assignments:

Cup of Russia — Moscow, Russia — Nov. 20-23
Ladies	Men	Pairs	Ice Dancing
Elena Glebova, EST	Kevin van der Perren, BEL	Monica Pisotta and Michael Stewart, CAN	Allie Hann-McCurdy and Michael Coreno, CAN
Jenni Vähämaa, FIN	Vaughn Chipeur, CAN	Amanda Velenosi and Mark Fernandez, CAN	Zoe Blanc and Pierre-Loup Bouquet, FRA
Julia Sebestyen, HUN	Chengjiang Li, CHN	Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang, CHN	Alexandra Zaretski and Roman Zaretski, ISR
Carolina Kostner, ITA	Tomas Verner, CZE	Lubov Iliushechkina and Nodari Maisuradze, RUS	Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte, ITA
Fumie Suguri, JPN	Brian Joubert, FRA	Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov, RUS	Katherine Copely and Deividas Stagniunas, LTU
Nana Takeda, JPN	Alban Préaubert, FRA	Arina Ushakova and Sergei Karev, RUS	Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, RUS
Ksenia Doronina, RUS	Artem Borodulin, RUS	Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov, UKR	Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski, RUS
Nina Petushkova, RUS	Alexander Uspenski, RUS	Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski, USA	Natalia Mikhailova and Arkadi Sergeev, RUS
TBA, RUS	Sergei Voronov, RUS		Anna Zadorozhniuk and Sergei Verbillo, UKR
Sarah Meier, SUI	Kristoffer Berntsson, SWE		Meryl Davis and Charlie White, USA
Rachael Flatt, USA	Jeremy Abbott, USA
Kimberly Meissner, USA	Adam Rippon, USA

NHK Trophy
Nov. 27-30, 2008
Tokyo, Japan

World champion Asada and Four Continents champion Takahashi lead the Japanese contingent at the NHK Trophy. Asada will be chased by countrywoman Nakano in the ladies event. U.S. champion Nagasu will be joined by teammates Ashley Wagner and Katrina Hacker, and they will all compete for the podium.

Takahashi will be joined Nobunari Oda, who will be making his first Grand Prix appearance since his DUI in the summer of 2007. Also appearing in Tokyo and fighting for the podium will be Americans Weir and Carriere.

China's Pang and Tong and Canada's Dubé and Davison will be the favorites in the pairs competition, with veterans Inoue and Baldwin of the U.S. their main competition.

Canada will also have the leading dance team in Japan -- Virtue and Moir. There will be strong competition for the podium, though, from France's Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat, Italy's Faiella and Scali, and America's Navarro and Bommentre and Samuelson and Bates.

Here are the full assignments:

NHK Trophy — Tokyo, Japan — Nov. 27-30
Ladies	Men	Pairs	Ice Dancing
Cynthia Phaneuf, CAN	Sergei Davydov, BLR	Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison, CAN	Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, CAN
Laura Lepistö, FIN	Christopher Mabee, CAN	Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay, CAN	Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, CAN
Annette Dytrt, GER	Kevin Reynolds, CAN	Qing Pang and Jian Tong, CHN	Xiaoyang Yu and Chen Wang, CHN
Mao Asada, JPN	Jinlin Guan, CHN	Maria Sergejeva and Ilja Glebov, EST	Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat, FRA
Yukari Nakano, JPN	Yannick Ponsero, FRA	Stacey Kemp and David King, GBR	Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali, ITA
Akiko Suzuki, JPN	Takahito Mura, JPN	Ekaterina Sheremetieva and Mikhail Kuznetsov, RUS	Cathy Reed and Chris Reed, RUS
Na-Young Kim, KOR	Nobunari Oda, JPN	Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, USA	Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, RUS
Katarina Gerboldt, RUS	Daisuke Takahashi, JPN	MeeRan Trombley and Laureano Ibarra, USA	Kristina Gorshkova and Vitali Butikov, RUS
Katrina Hacker, USA	Andrei Lutai, RUS		Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre, USA
Mirai Nagasu, USA	Adrian Schultheiss, SWE		Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates, USA
Ashley Wagner, USA	Stephen Carriere, USA
Anastasia Gimazetdinova, UZB	Johnny Weir, USA