David Quinn squares off against the team that gave him his shot

A big part of what made David Quinn an attractive coaching candidate for the Rangers this summer was his previous experience as a head coach in the AHL and as an assistant in the NHL.

On Friday, he returns to face the lone pro franchise that had employed him, as Quinn’s Blueshirts make their only trip of the season to Denver to take on the Avalanche. Quinn was the headman for their AHL team in Lake Erie from 2009-2012 — where he coached Kevin Shattenkirk, the Avalanche’s first-round pick (No. 14 overall) in 2007 — before becoming an Avalanche assistant for the lockout-shortened season of 2012-13.

From there, Quinn went back to Boston University to be the head coach until the Rangers came knocking following their dismissal of Alain Vigneault.

“Certainly helped me in the transition to this job,” Quinn said after Thursday’s short practice in Westchester. “When you can coach in the National Hockey League, even though it was for a shortened season as an assistant coach, you certainly get a feel of the league and how it operates. It certainly was a valuable experience for me, not only for this job, but in coaching in general.

“That organization gave me my first opportunity to coach pro hockey. I loved my three years in the American League, I loved my half a year in Colorado. Still a lot of friends in the organization. So it’s going to be fun to go back.”

General manger Jeff Gorton returned from the World Juniors in Vancouver in time to take in the team’s 7-2 defeat to the Penguins on Wednesday night at the Garden, and was back watching practice Thursday.

Gorton saw some of the team’s top prospects, including Russia’s Vitali Kravtsov, the club’s No. 9-overall selection in June who has been outstanding in collecting two goals and four assists in the first five games. His team will take on the Americans — along with Rangers prospect K’Andre Miller, who had missed one game due to illness — in the semifinals Friday. The other semifinal features Switzerland, with Rangers’ hopeful Nico Gross, taking on Finland, which upset Canada on Wednesday.

Center Kevin Hayes missed practice for a “maintenance day.” Quinn said it’s the same “upper-body issue” he has been dealing with for a few weeks.

Defenseman John Gilmour was named to the AHL All-Star team, the lone representative of the Wolf Pack. Gilmour, 25, has nine goals and 23 points in 34 games this season.