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Evan Lysacek and his fancy outfit hope to win gold this week in Ottawa. (Michelle Harvath)

(10/30/2008) - The 2008 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series heads north to Ottawa, Canada, for Skate Canada, Oct. 30-Nov. 2. Approximately 55 skaters from 11 countries are competing for points and prize money. Skate Canada, taking place at the Scotiabank Place, begins Friday with the pairs short program at 12:05 p.m. ET.

Eighteen U.S. skaters will compete in four disciplines: ladies, men's, pairs and ice dancing. The U.S. team hails from nine states: California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

The Grand Prix Series, now in its 14th season, consists of six international events in a cumulative, point-scoring format. Approximately 300 athletes from 30 countries are expected to participate in the series. Each athlete is eligible to score points in two of the six scheduled events. The top-six point-earners in each of the disciplines then qualify for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, which will be combined with the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final this year in Goyang City, Republic of Korea, Dec. 10-14. Athletes will be vying for a total of more than $1.35 million in prize money throughout the series.

At last week's Skate America, Team USA took home four medals. World bronze medalist Johnny Weir won silver, and two-time U.S. champion Evan Lysacek took bronze. U.S. pair champions Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker garnered the silver, and 2006 Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto took the ice dancing silver.

LADIES

World junior silver medalist Caroline Zhang is participating in her second Grand Prix Series. In 2007, she won bronze at Skate America and silver at the Cup of China and finished fourth at the Grand Prix Final.

Alissa Czisny, who recently won gold at the 2008 Nebelhorn Trophy, will be competing at Skate Canada for the third time. She won gold at the event in 2005 and took bronze at the 2007 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Bebe Liang is competing in the Grand Prix Series for the fifth time. She has a trio of fourth-place finishes in the series, most recently at the 2006 NHK Trophy.

MEN

Lysacek, the 2005 and 2006 world bronze medalist, is competing in the Grand Prix Series for the fourth time. This will be his first appearance at Skate Canada.

Two-time U.S. junior silver medalist Brandon Mroz is making his Grand Prix Series debut. He won gold last season at the JGP Austria and the JGP Germany before taking silver at the JGP Final. He also won silver at the 2006 JGP Final.

Ryan Bradley is skating in his third Grand Prix Series. He is the 2007 U.S. silver medalist, and he placed sixth at Skate Canada in 2002.

PAIRS

McLaughlin and Brubaker won silver last season at both the Cup of China and NHK Trophy. They are the 2007 world junior champions.

Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig are making their second appearance at Skate Canada; they finished eighth at the event in 2005. They won bronze at the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy and finished fifth at the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Tiffany Vise and Derek Trent are also veterans of Skate Canada. They placed fifth at both the 2006 and 2007 events. The pair finished fourth at both the 2008 U.S. Championships and 2007 Trophée Eric Bompard.

ICE DANCING

2008 U.S. silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White will be competing at Skate Canada for the second time; they finished fourth at the 2006 event. Davis and White won the silver at the 2008 Four Continents Championships.

Joining them are 2008 U.S. and Four Continents bronze medalists Kim Navarro and Brent Bommentre. They competed at 2006 Skate Canada, finishing sixth.

Jennifer Wester and Daniil Barantsev are making their Grand Prix Series debut. They won gold at the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy, finished fourth at the 2008 Four Continents Championships and placed fifth at the 2008 U.S. Championships.

In addition to Skate Canada, the Grand Prix Series consists of these remaining events:

• Cup of China; Beijing, China - Nov. 6-9
• Trophée Eric Bompard; Paris, France - Nov. 13-16
• Cup of Russia; Moscow, Russia - Nov. 20-23
• NHK Trophy; Tokyo, Japan - Nov. 27-30
• Grand Prix Final: Goyang City, Republic of Korea - Dec. 10-14

Here are the full entries at Skate Canada:

Ladies
Alissa Czisny, USA	Elena Glebova, EST	Carolina Kostner, ITA	Bebe Liang, USA
Jenna McCorkell, GBR	Cynthia Phaneuf, CAN	Joannie Rochette, CAN	Myriane Samson, CAN
Fumie Suguri, JPN	Nana Takeda, JPN	Jenni Vähämaa, FIN	Carolina Zhang, USA

Men
Ryan Bradley, USA	Patrick Chan, CAN	Anton Kovalevski, UKR	Evan Lysacek, USA
Brandon Mroz, USA	Yasuharu Nanri, JPN	Yannick Ponsero, FRA	Shawn Sawyer, CAN
Jeremy Ten, CAN	Vladimir Uspenski, RUS	Sergei Voronov, RUS

Pairs
Mylene Brodeur and John Mattatall, CAN	Huibo Dong and Yiming Wu, CHN	Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison, CAN	Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig, USA
Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov, RUS	Rachel Kirkland and Eric Radford, CAN	Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker, USA	Tiffany Vise and Derek Trent, USA

Ice Dancing
Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, RUS	Andrea Chong and Guillame Gfeller, CAN	Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier, CAN	Meryl Davis and Charlie White, USA
Kristina Gorshkova and Vitali Butikov, RUS	Kim Navarro and Brent Bommentre, USA	Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat, FRA	Jennifer Wester and Daniil Barantsev, USA