Make Ice Balls More Mechanically Interesting

I love the recent snapshot for Minecraft, as I feel like the ice caves make the world exploration part of Minecraft more appealing. I especially like the addition of icicles and the frostbite, but I feel like the unique drop from them could be better. When testing out the ice ball in the latest snapshot, I felt the item to be cool, but very mechanically underwhelming. 

When I tried using the ice ball in a PvP situation with some friends, we found that much of the time, the ice ball was either relatively weak compared to other forms of attacking or impossible to counter. The high velocity from the projectile granted to the player made getting close to the player very difficult without any form of knockback resistance, but with a shield or knockback resistance, the ice ball became almost useless. Overall, my friends and I felt that something was needed to make the ice ball worth using and more, well, cool (pun intended).

After dropping yet another ice cube onto the floor and watching it shatter, I present a suggestion: because the ice ball is made of ice, make it shatter into several shards upon impact. The shards could then pose a hazard to anyone who steps on them, dealing some small damage and lingering around for a few seconds before melting away.

Rather than becoming a comsumable throwing weapon that might not last very long in the Minecraft community's eyes, this change could bring about a new dimension to creative PvE and PvP strategies.